Nantucket is the setting for Nancy Thayer’s latest novel, FAMILY REUNION. Her main character, Eleanor Sunderland, lives in a cliffside mansion that has been in her family for three generations. It attracts loved ones for summer retreats, which used to form fond memories. But widowed three years ago, she is feeling lonely and out of sorts being on the island year-round.

Eleanor’s closest friend is going to take off on a cruise, and until her 22-year-old granddaughter, Ari, decides to move in with her for the summer, she is at loose ends. Ari is happy after graduating from Bucknell University and breaking off her engagement to someone she realized she did not love. She is working at a camp for underprivileged kids until graduate school starts in the fall.

"FAMILY REUNION takes us on a journey into the intricacies of day-to-day interactions with family and the outside world. It is populated with interesting, well-drawn characters, lively dialogue and secrets that will surprise readers."

Eleanor’s grown children, Alicia and Cliff, beg her to sell her house to a developer who has offered millions for the property. They want to move her into a senior living community, but she is not ready to take that drastic step. As a matter of fact, she reconnects with a man named Silas and a quaint romance begins to grow. This also happens to Ari, who falls for Beckett, the brother of an acquaintance of hers.

While all of this is going on, Eleanor thinks that her upcoming 70th birthday would be a good time for a reunion, which hopefully will quell some of the friction that has been raging through the family. Eleanor sees her daughter as a “wanna-be” princess who seems to worship money and can’t get enough of it, despite being married to a successful doctor. Her son, Cliff, is an enigma to her, even though he was her favorite child. When he makes a surprise visit to the island, it is to question her about whether or not she has a will, a DNR and other papers people prepare for their next of kin. She is furious and ends up asking him to leave. The last thing she wants to think about is death. Yet she knows on some level that he’s right and that she should start the paperwork.

Then one day, when Ari comes home after a particularly busy day, she throws up after parking her car. Eleanor asks her point blank if she is pregnant. Ari is mortified but admits that she could be with her ex-fiance’s baby. A pregnancy test purchased by her grandmother shows a positive result. What could this do to Ari’s life and her grand plans? Nancy Thayer writes compassionately about this difficult situation, Ari’s choices and the impact it will have on her and the trajectory of her family.

At this point in the novel, Ari is also trying to process the fact that twice she spotted her father on the island, driving around with the same young woman in his car. Is he having an affair? Is she jumping to conclusions? How should she handle this? As the narrative unfolds, the issues that arise pose new challenges to the family and its individual members and their personal agendas.

FAMILY REUNION takes us on a journey into the intricacies of day-to-day interactions with family and the outside world. It is populated with interesting, well-drawn characters, lively dialogue and secrets that will surprise readers.