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

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!

Please, Find a French Speaker

I enjoyed the story a lot, I'd rank it high among Hilderbrand's work. And the narrator has a good, lively way with dialogue, although she sometimes sounds like her nose is stuffed up. BUT this is a book with a lot of French words in it, and the narrator clearly has never studied French and doesn't understand French pronunciation. For someone with even a basic grasp of the language, it is agonizing to hear her mangle words she doesn't know. A flat, Anglicized pronunciation would have been far better than the gutteral, made-up "French" pronunciations here (or the narrator could have gone over the entire book with a French tutor to prepare for her performance, maybe), but bottom line, it was a bad call to assign this particular narrator to this particular book.

Good story

I always enjoy an EH novel. I recommend buying the book rather than listening to this narrator, though. Her voices for older people were painful to listen to even at a faster speed.

Great story

I was captivated by this book instantly. I loved it. It was a little confusing going back and forth, past to present.
But, I loved the story line. Great book to listen to.

Just ok

So many storylines left hanging at conclusion of the story -was very frustrated by the narrator who portrayed the 63 year old main character with a shaky voice as though she were 83…..

Not my favorite EH book

The story turned in circles and was difficult to follow. The story was sub par.

There is no Love in this story!

It’s hard to like a book when all of the characters are so horrible, save one and she’s dead. There is no LOVE in this book. Only selfish behavior. I really like Elin Hilderbrand and i have read all of her books. Sadly I did not like this one at all.

Not her best book.

This one was hard to get through. I have read/listen to most of Erin Hildbrants books and enjoyed them. This was not one of them.

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.

I fell in love with Elin's characters once again!

Great book to listen to. I enjoyed the performance and the story. Another escape into Nantucket possibility.