Another first-hand glimpse of life on beautiful Nantucket Island is told by Elin Hilderbrand with a cast of characters that are compelling in her newest offering, THE RUMOR.

Eddie Pancik drives a Porsche Cayennne, wears his lucky Panama hat, and work is his thing. He is is a realtor/construction chieftan, currently building three spec houses. No sales in a long time, bills are piling up, and he owes a great deal of money. His ace in the hole is the house that he has exclusive rights to rent, on Ten Low Beach Road. It is a show house right on the beach. It has everything: six master suites, an infinity pool, wine cellar, tennis courts, and rents for $50,000 a week. Eddie makes money, a lot of it, all to keep his wife, Grace, and twin daughters having everything they want. He is about to suffer financial ruin and what he does to try and save his family is a really bad and desperate decision.

Grace lives in her own little world. She breeds organic chickens that lay blue eggs. She is transforming her garden to become the envy of the Island, working with Benton Coe, her handsome landscape architect. Grace only has one goal. Eddie hired a public relations gal and Grace wants her garden featured in a Sunday issue of the Boston Globe. She and Benton are together constantly working towards her goal. Her teenage daughters, Hope and Allegra, and her husband, Eddie, are okay as far as she can tell but they are not her focus. Soon her thoughts and actions are aimed at Benton and they begin a hot and torrid love affair. The rumor mill starts, facts are misconstrued, tales told and re-told, but everyone hears it and continue to pass it along.

Benton Coe, single, ambitious and ruggedly handsome, is use to the ladies falling all over him. His affair with Grace escalates but when Eddie discovers them making out in the tool shed, Benton quickly and completely breaks off with Grace and tells her he is going to Detroit for a project there. So much for that love affair.

Madeline is a successful writer and received a generous advance from the success of her dystopian novel, Islandia. She is now blocked and needs a new idea for another book. She is BFF with Grace and they have been close for over twenty years. While brainstorming ideas, Madeline began to write details of the sexual pursuits occurring between Benton and Grace, as told by Grace and a hot, new book begins to take shape. Again, rumors run rampant and the whole island is whispering.

From May to August on Nantucket Island, we watch temptation vs. morality. The intermingling of generations, breakdowns in marriages, friendships, cheating, growing up, betrayals and in the end, resolution. A great summer read from an author I always enjoy, especially her tasty descriptions of food. Great read!