The Five-Star Weekend

Elin Hilderbrand

*Grief & Loss/Female Friendships *

In The Five-Star Weekend, we meet Hollis Shaw, a successful food blogger whose life is changed forever when her husband, Mathew is killed in a car accident on his way to the airport. Beginning the grieving process happens immediately as shock and the unknown fill Hollis. Before she takes a break from her food blog effective immediately, Hollis comes across an idea that may help her; the ‘Five-Star Weekend’; a trip with your best friend from each phase of her life. Hollis immediately calls on 4 friends to come along for the ride; a weekend away in Nantucket with: Tatum (Hollis’ childhood friend), Dru-Ann (Hollis’ best friend from university), Brooke (Hollis’ friend from their 30’s), and Gigi (Hollis’ new blogger friend whom she hasn’t met yet).

How well does she really know Gigi? And will this weekend help Hollis like she hopes?

Setting: This author is renowned for beach-reads and beautiful escapism settings. Set in beautiful-serene Nantucket, off Cape Code, Massachusetts “a tiny, isolated island… a summer destination with dune-backed beaches…wharves and cobblestoned streets lined with restaurants and high-end boutiques” – talk about summer living at its finest.  

Situation: This novel highlight grief/loss and female friendships beautifully. We see glimpses of Hollis’ life full circle from her childhood, school years, and present-day stressors of her strained marriage and complicated mother-daughter relationship.  Hollis begins to see the cracks in her life once her husband passes that she never noticed before. Was she too focused on her success? Were things different in her marriage? Planning this weekend itinerary for her friends and followers will show everyone that Hollis still has it all together, until she doesn’t. I loved how the author shares drama between all women’s personal lives. What is meant to be a beautiful empowering weekend, ends up dramatic, messy, funny (dare I say), and unforgettable in more ways than one.

Synergy: The elements of this novel worked so well for me. It was beautiful to see how each woman fit into Hollis’ life, leading to where she is today, not to mention the details of the setting. Joy and grief are two strong emotions and in one moment you could be trying to make sense of how the two can possibly exist together.

Would you host a Five-Star Weekend after a loss? Who would be on your list?