The Love Season

By: Elin Hilderbrand

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to The Love Season—a riveting story that takes place in one day and spans decades; a story that embraces the charming, pristine island of Nantucket, as well as Manhattan, Paris and Morocco. Elin Hilderbrand's most ambitious novel to date chronicles the famous couplings of real lives: love and friendship, food and wine, deception and betrayal—and forgiveness and healing.

It's a hot August Saturday on Nantucket Island. Over the course of the next 24 hours, two lives will be transformed forever.

Marguerite Beale, former chef of culinary hot spot Les Parapluies, has been out of the public eye for over a decade. This all changes with a phone call from Marguerite's goddaughter, Renata Knox.

Marguerite has not seen Renata since the death of Renata's mother, Candace Harris Knox, fourteen years earlier. And now that Renata is on Nantucket visiting the family of her new fiancé, she takes the opportunity, against her father's wishes, to contact Marguerite in hopes of learning the story of her mother's life—and death.

But the events of the day spiral hopelessly out of control for both women, and nothing ends up as planned.

©2006 Elin Hilderbrand (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

“Hilderbrand's fifth book is a fulfilling tale of familial excavation and self-exploration….It's a refreshing, resonant summertime treat.” —Publishers Weekly

“Hilderbrand's sensitive portrayal of a young motherless woman on a journey of self-discovery, and her guilt-ridden godmother's attempt to find the courage to confront the past, is very moving.” —Booklist

“A good page-turner.” —Library Journal

Good Listen, but Very Sad Story

What did you love best about The Love Season?

I liked the focus on food and the restaurant life on Nantucket. I also liked the time shifts back and forth from the present to the past.

What didn’t you like about Christina Delaine’s performance?

She made Margaret sound very old, much older than her 63 years. I pictured Margaret as 90 years old and crippled. She also made Dan sound very old as well. I had to turn up the volume when both characters spoke. This really put a damper on the story for me. Renata, Cade, Porter and Candace all sounded like normal people. I was also a bit over the pronunciation of French words. It was almost like they were thrown in just to show that the narrator could pronounce them. I could have overlooked this, had it not been for the main character being made to sound like a geriatric for the entire book, even when she was young.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I listened in two hour increments.

Any additional comments?

This was a good story, please don't get me wrong. Perhaps this one is better read, than listened to in the car.

Super Excellent!!! A must listen!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Love Season the most enjoyable?

I wasn't going to purchase this audiobook after listening to the preview but I did and I was wowed!!! The story had stories within stories not a moment in the book was it dull! I loved every character; every bit of travel; friendships made and want a sequel!!! You can't be disappointed. There are many character's but never confusing. The book is excellent from go and Christina Delaine is my favorite narrator?

What other book might you compare The Love Season to and why?

The closest in my thoughts is The Blue Bistro but I liked this more. It had more of a storyline with great character's. Definitely is a listen again!

Have you listened to any of Christina Delaine’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, Christina is my favorite narrator by far! The voices are distinguishing different and she involves me right into the audio. I feel I am there?

If you could rename The Love Season, what would you call it?

I wouldn't change it.

Any additional comments?

I have read many of Elin Hilderbrand's books and have enjoyed every one. I had never read her before and will definitely read them all. She's an amazing author; uniquely gifted to making each book very different. I am super impressed!

Nice!

I really enjoyed Elin's approach to this story, the characters were uniquely interwoven with each other, and the ending was great. A very creative approach. Very open ended in what would unfold for each of them, but not in a way to set up a sequel or series, just great writing style. It was fun to see what my mind wanted to do with the characters. I was delighted to be brought into the story that way. The "romance" of the Island & "fine dining/wine" was wonderfully unfolded in the story line.

Story is fine; Reader is awful

Headline says it all. The story was fine. The performer, however, was really not very good. If I hadn't been listening closely enough, I would have thought Marguerite was in her 80s or 90s by the voice. In actuality, the character is in her early 60s.

Not a fan

Big Elin Hildebrand fan, but not this one. I travel for work and listen via audible.
I found this book gloomy and depressing.

Getting a little familiar

After listening to 3 of her books, I've come to expect that every single one will feature 1. Nantucket 2. food obsession (one character is always a chef, restaurant owner or amazing chef/foodie) 3. tragic death (someone's gonna die, or just died, or died years ago, tragically and someone else is haunted by it) and 4. lots and lots of alcohol (champagne, scotch, beer - it's always consumed to excess). I like her books, and the characters are fun, but...she needs to get some new schtick.

In addition, the narrator was awful, for several reasons: First, she made the character of Margo sound about 95, and she also made Miles sound like he was about 11. In addition: incredibly pretentious way of speaking. What's with throwing in the letter H where none exists? "Porter" pronounced "Port-Her" and "meeting" pronounced "Meet-Hing." Sooo annoying. And, while on the one hand, she pronounced every French word with an incredibly pretentious overly French dialect, on the other hand, she inexplicably pronounced "Hermes" as "Her-meez" instead of the way it is suppose to be pronounced, which is "Air-mez" What narrator wouldn't know the proper pronunciation of a famous designer?

Great story, INSUFFERABLE narration

Holy Hell. The woman reading this lovely story is congested nasally and cannot say m and n clearly. That is the least of her problems. She speaks with overly pointed syllables. It’s unpleasantly self conscious. The worst of her overweening performance, though, is her adding the H sound to nearly every syllable. And damned if important characters are not named Porter (“Port-Her”) and Renata (“Renat-Ha”). The whole thing is read with these extra H sounds that are cringey and practically nauseating. Why was there no director on this project? I’d redo this good book with another voice actor.

The Love Season

It was quite confusing with the love season. And then she had sex with Miles and Ranada. And then Sally hit her board and almost drowned. And her dad came and spent the night at Margauxs, and Ranada. This was quite confusing. And she gave Cade’s ring back.

Sad and, therefore, no fun, no happiness.

When I read Elin Hilderbrand, I expect a nice beach read with a happy story. And, in the past, this has been true for me.

This book, however, was sad, even bothering, from the beginning. It confronts a lot of issues - disappointments in love, friends, life - that are downers on a lovely summer day (or any day).

Another note: why is this book called "The Love Season"? There is no part of this title that describes the book. Actually, nobody really loves anybody in the book (except for the father-daughter).

Didn't like the ending

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Ending was terrible

Has The Love Season turned you off from other books in this genre?

Maybe not sure

Did Christina Delaine do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

She made Margo sound old and Daniel sound weak. Did good with Renatta

Did The Love Season inspire you to do anything?

No