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Months after Hollis Shaw’s husband, Matthew, dies in a car accident, she reads online about a woman throwing a “five-star weekend.” The idea was that the woman invited four friends from different phases of her life to spend a fun time together. Hollis does just this, asking four women — one from her youth on Nantucket, one from college, one from her years of raising her daughter, and one from just recently — to come to her summer home on Nantucket for a fabulous few days of good times and excellent food. Hollis knows just how to host a perfect weekend; she is famous, after all, for her food-and-home website, Hungry with Hollis.
In addition, she invites her film-student daughter to take video of the experience. She has to pay her to get Caroline to come because their relationship has become strained, particularly since Matthew’s death.
What sounds like a perfect weekend for reconnecting, rebuilding and relaxing doesn’t exactly go that way, however. Her most recent friend is one she’s never even met in person, and she’s hiding a huge and devastating secret. There’s been drama between two of the friends for decades. Another is frankly annoying most of the time. And each is coming into the weekend dealing with some heavy concerns.
Hollis graciously hosts a lovely weekend and handles all the drama that arises. She grieves her husband and dwells often on the issues they were facing. But little things come together that eventually bring some hope and closure to her broken heart.
The Five-Star Weekend explores longtime friendship, family, love and life in general, focusing on women in their 50s. The setting plays a big role, too, with Nantucket a star of its own. I liked how the book was an ensemble piece, in large measure, with the stories of all the women given space. It’s not completely my favorite genre of book, but it was nice to appreciate a sample of the popular Hilderbrand’s writing.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes around 25 instances of moderate profanity, about 30 uses of mild language, and about 10 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes references to an extramarital affair, kissing and making out, references that people are having sex but off-screen, a scene of self-pleasuring and a few discussions among women talking about their sex lives (with some detail). There are several references to a man sexually assaulting women.
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