Here's to Us (Hilderbrand)

Here's to Us 
Elin Hilderbrand, 2016
Little, Brown and Co.
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780316375146


Summary
An emotional, heartwarming story from New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand about a grieving family that finds solace where they least expect it.

Celebrity chef Deacon Thorpe has always been a force of nature with an insatiable appetite for life. But after that appetite contributes to Deacon's shocking death in his favorite place on earth, a ramshackle Nantucket summer cottage, his (messy, complicated) family is reeling.

Now Deacon's three wives, his children, and his best friend gather on the island he loved to say farewell. The three very different women have long been bitter rivals, each wanting to claim the primary place in Deacon's life and his heart.

But as they slowly let go of the resentments they've held onto for years and remember the good times, secrets are revealed, confidences are shared, and improbable bonds are formed as this unlikely family says goodbye to the man who brought them all together, for better or worse—and the women he loved find new ways to love again (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1969-70
• Where—Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—B.A., Hopkins University; University of Iowa Writers' Workshop
• Currently—lives in Nantucket, Massachuestts


Elin Hilderbrand is an American writer of Summer beach read romance novels, some 20 in all. Her books have been set on and around Nantucket Island where she lives with her husband and three children.

Hilderbrand was born and raised in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. As a child, she spent summers on Cape Cod, "playing touch football at low tide, collecting sea glass, digging pools for hermit crabs, swimming out to the wooden raft off shore," until her father died in a plane crash when she was sixteen. She spent the next summer working—doing piecework in a factory that made Halloween costumes; she promised herself that the goal for the rest of her life would be that she would always have a real summer.

She graduated from Johns Hopkins University and became a teaching/writing fellow at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1993 she moved to Nantucket, took a job as "the classified ads girl" at a local paper, and later started writing.

Her first novels were published by St. Martin's Press. With A Summer Affair, published in 2008, she moved to Little, Brown and Company. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 7/11/2013.)

Book Reviews
The queen of the summer beach read...keeps the title with another light-as-air Nantucket-centered tome.
New York Post


Beautiful people, dysfunctional families and Nantucket: That's Hilderbrand territory, and it wouldn't be summer without a visit...[Here's to Us is] just the thing for a day by the sea.
Kim Hubbard - People"


It must be summer: Hilderbrand is back with a new beach read.
Jocelyn McClurg - USA Today


The perfect summer read...Fans of delectable summer reads and romances with a touch of tragedy will love this latest Hilderbrand novel, a perfect companion for a sunny summer morning and a bowl of something sweet.
Tara Sonin - B&N Reads


The bestselling author of The Rumor pens yet another must-pack beach read--this time about forgiveness, unlikely friendships and the experiences that unite us.
Ava Baccari - Hello Canada


The book immediately draws you in with its scenic descriptions of the island and the Page Six-worthy life of a famous rock star chef. A comfy beach chair and Here's to Us is the perfect recipe for a delectable reading experience.
Bronwyn Miller - BookReporter


A celebrity chef's sudden death leaves his widow, exes, children, and best friend in a quandary. And since this is a Hilderbrand novel, is there any doubt that the dilemma involves Nantucket real estate?... No one captures the flavor and experience of a summer place—the outdoor showers, the seafood, the sand in the floorboards—like Hilderbrand.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add specific questions if they're made available by the author. In the meantime, use these LitLovers talking points to help kick off a discussion for Here's to Us...then take off on your own:

1. This story is told through shifting points of view, one chapter at a time, a rather different structure than usual for Elin Hilderbrand. Did the structure work for you...were you able to engage with the characters as much as you wanted? Were you able to keep up with all the different characters—or was it hard, at first, to keep them straight?

2. How would you describe Deacon Thorpe, the deceased husband? Talk about his abandonment by his parents and how it shaped his life. Does that single event explain his actions or, perhaps, even exonerate him despite the fact that he hurt numerous people all through his life? In other words, are you able to feel sympathy for him?

3. What kind of a parent was Deacon Thorpe? Talk about the connections (or lack thereof) he had with this children, especially with Angie.

4. Talk about the wives and how they differ from one another.  Who of the three—Belinda, Laurel, or Scarlett—was most suitable for Deacon? They come together resenting, maybe despising, one another, but how do their attitudes and relationships toward one another change by the end of the novel? How did your attitude toward them change?

5. Same with the three children. Talk about their emotional baggage, their relationships with their parents and with one another.

6. How does this book treat addiction: does it suggest it is a a failure of character or an inherited trait? What do you think? Did the revelations in the book alter your views?

7. Was the ending satisfying...or did you wish for more?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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