“Gerstenblatt's distinctive tale, a triumph in storytelling, celebrates the courage and tenacity of women.”
- Booklist, Starred Review
Daughters of Nantucket
Set against Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, this sweeping, emotional novel brings together three courageous women battling to save everything they hold dear…
Nantucket in 1846 is an island set apart not just by its geography but by its unique circumstances. With their menfolk away at sea, often for years at a time, women here know a rare independence—and the challenges that go with it.
Eliza Macy is struggling to conceal her financial trouble as she waits for her whaling captain husband to return from a voyage. In desperation, she turns against her progressive ideals and targets Meg Wright, a pregnant free Black woman trying to relocate her store to Main Street. Meanwhile, astronomer Maria Mitchell loves running Nantucket’s Atheneum and spending her nights observing the stars, yet she fears revealing the secret wishes of her heart.
On a sweltering July night, a massive fire breaks out in town, quickly kindled by the densely packed wooden buildings. With everything they possess now threatened, these three very different women are forced to reevaluate their priorities and decide what to save, what to let go and what kind of life to rebuild from the ashes of the past.
Deepen the discussion with the official Daughters of Nantucket book club kit.
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Cocktail Recipe
Nantucket Seabreeze
A classic New England cocktail that perfectly pairs with Daughters of Nantucket and group discussion
Ingredients
- 1.5oz of vodka
- 2oz of cranberry juice cocktail
- 1.5oz pink grapefruit juice
- 1/2 lime, cut lengthwise
- Club soda
- Ice
Instructions
- Fill a highball glass halfway with ice and set it aside. Take one-quarter of the lime and use a small sharp paring knife to separate the lime fruit from the peel about halfway up. Set this aside.
- Then fill a cocktail mixing glass with ice and pour the juices and vodka over the ice. Stir. Squeeze one-quarter of the lime (the one that’s not cut) into the mix and stir.
- Set the strainer over the mixing glass and strain the cocktail into the prepared highball glass.
- Gently top the cocktail with club soda. Set the lime that you cut the peel apart from onto the rim of your glass. It should look a bit like a sail!
