The Island is a 2011 novel by Elin Hilderbrand.
Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut backyard to the color of the cocktail napkins. Like any mother of a bride-to-be, she is weathering the storms of excitement and chaos, tears and joy. But Birdie, a woman who prides herself on preparing for every possibility, could never have predicted the late-night phone call from Chess, abruptly announcing that she's canceled her engagement. It's only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Before the dust has even begun to settle, far worse news arrives, sending Chess into a tailspin of despair.
Reluctantly taking a break from the first new romance she's embarked on since the recent end of her 30-year marriage, Birdie circles the wagons and enlists the help of her younger daughter Tate and her own sister India. Soon all four are headed for beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island, off the coast of Nantucket, where their family has summered for generations. No phones, no television, no grocery store - a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles. But throw sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets onto a remote island, and what might sound like a peaceful getaway becomes much more.
Tropes:
- Bourgeois Bohemian: India
- Driven to Suicide: India's husband Bill, before the novel started, and possibly Michael after Chess broke off the engagement.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Birdie is the responsible one and India is the foolish one.
- Hollywood New England: Takes place on an island off of Cape Cod, Massachussetts.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Between Chess and Tate.
- Important Haircut: Chess cuts her hair after Michael's death.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Birdie (real name, Elizabeth Tate), Tate (also Elizabeth Tate), and Chess (Francesca).
- Public Exposure: India poses naked for Lula.
- Sex with the Ex: Happens at the end of the book between Birdie and Grant.
- Sibling Triangle: Between Chess, Tate, and Barrett Lee when they were teenagers, in the past between Birdie, India, and Barrett's father Chuck, and between Nick, Michael and Chess.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Between India and her student Lula.