Thirty-odd summers on one island produce a lot of candidates, and this field runs from the blockbusters that became TV series to the early, quieter stories longtime readers still swear by. Two covers at a time, you decide which one earns the top of the pile.
128 SummersA 2020 novel about Mallory and Jake, who meet on Nantucket for one weekend every Labor Day across 28 years while living separate lives.1000pts
2The IslandA 2010 novel about four women, a mother, her sisters and daughters, who retreat to a rustic Tuckernuck cottage after a cancelled wedding.781pts
3The Perfect CoupleA 2018 Nantucket murder mystery in which a wedding weekend unravels after a body is found in the harbor, later adapted into a Netflix series.626pts
4Silver GirlA 2011 novel about the wife of a Madoff-style fraudster hiding out on Nantucket with her estranged best friend.492pts
5Winter StreetThe 2014 opener of the Quinn family holiday series, set at a Nantucket inn over a Christmas when every family member arrives in crisis.492pts
6A Summer AffairA 2008 novel about glassblower Claire Danner Crispin, whose charity gala chairmanship on Nantucket leads her into an affair.491pts
7Swan SongHilderbrand's 2024 farewell Nantucket novel, in which a flashy new couple's house burns down and their personal assistant goes missing.491pts
8The Beach ClubHilderbrand's 2000 debut, following the owner, manager and staff of a Nantucket beach club hotel over one summer season.491pts
9The IdenticalsA 2017 novel about estranged twin sisters who swap islands, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, for one summer.434pts
10The Five-Star WeekendA 2023 novel in which food blogger Hollis Shaw invites one friend from each stage of her life to a luxe Nantucket weekend after her husband's death.367pts
11Summer of '69Hilderbrand's 2019 historical novel following the Levin family through the summer of the moon landing, Woodstock and Chappaquiddick.367pts
12The RumorA 2015 novel in which gossip about two Nantucket best friends, a novelist and a landscape designer, spirals through the island's summer.367pts
13Nantucket NightsA 2002 novel about three friends whose annual midnight swim ends with one of them vanishing in the water, exposing years of secrets.367pts
14Here's to UsA 2016 novel in which a celebrity chef's three wives gather at his Nantucket cottage to scatter his ashes.289pts
15Winter in ParadiseThe 2018 first book of the Paradise trilogy, in which Irene Steele learns her late husband had a secret second life on St. John.289pts
16The CastawaysA 2009 novel in which a tight-knit group of Nantucket friends reckons with the drowning of a couple at their center.289pts
17The Love SeasonA 2006 novel that unfolds over a single day as Nantucket caterer Marguerite reunites with the goddaughter she has not seen in 14 years.289pts
18The AcademyA 2026 boarding-school novel co-written with Shelby Cunningham, following a scandal-filled year at the elite Tiffin Academy in New England.289pts
19SummerlandA 2012 novel about a Nantucket community grieving after a graduation-night car crash kills a popular teenager and injures her friends.289pts
20Beautiful DayA 2013 novel about a Nantucket wedding guided by the late mother of the bride's notebook of instructions as family secrets surface.289pts
21The MatchmakerA 2014 novel about Dabney Kimball Beech, a Nantucket matchmaker with a perfect record whose own first love returns to the island.289pts
22The Hotel NantucketA 2022 novel about the reopening of a once-grand island hotel, its new staff, a ghost in room 101 and a secret hotel critic.197pts
23The Blue BistroA 2005 novel set over the final season of a beloved Nantucket restaurant, built around hostess Adrienne and its reclusive chef Fiona.197pts
24Golden GirlA 2021 novel narrated by a Nantucket author who dies in a hit-and-run and watches her family from the afterlife with three chances to intervene.197pts
25BarefootA 2007 novel about three women who flee to a Nantucket cottage for a summer that upends each of their lives.197pts
