Books Set on Cape Cod & the Islands

Cape Cod and the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are special places known for their distinctive flora, including pine-oak forests, sandplain grasslands, and sand dunes peppered with bearberry shrubs. Unfortunately, this unique sense of place is under threat. In recent decades, contemporary landscape practices have come to depend on environmentally stressful fertilizers and irrigation systems, replacing this sensitive ecoregion’s native flora with generic turfgrasses and popular commercial nursery trees and shrubs that could exist anywhere.

A riveting and poignant portrait of marriage--lauded by New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand as "gorgeous and heartbreaking"--that explores the long union of a middle-aged couple grappling with secrets, illness, and loyalty.

Whether you call Cape Cod a man-made island or describe it as a geographic peninsula connected to the mainland by bridges, there is one non-debatable fact. Cape Cod is surrounded by water on all four sides, jutting out prominently into the Atlantic Ocean. This characteristic accounts in large measure for its history, its economic development, its aesthetic beauty, and its maritime legacy.

Staff pick! New in paperback!

The Hazel Wood meets The Astonishing Color of After in this dreamy, atmospheric novel that follows sixteen-year-old Eli as she tries to remember what truly happened the night her mother disappeared off a frozen fjord in Norway under the Northern Lights.

Never whistle at the Northern Lights, the legend goes, or they'll sweep down from the sky and carry you away.

An intimate portrait of a legendary generation of artists, writers, activists, and dreamers who created a utopia on the shores of Cape Cod during the first half of the twentieth century.

Now in paperback! "A story of summer, secrets, love and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades. Set against the summer backwoods and beaches of Cape Cod, The Paper Palace unfolds over 24 hours and across 50 years, as decades of family legacy, love, lies, secrets, and one unspeakable childhood tragedy lead wife and mother Elle Bishop to the precipice of a life-changing decision"-

With its rich history and outdoorsy traditions, the Cape Cod region is awash in lively, year-round festivals celebrating everything from agriculture to the arts. This entertaining insider's look at more than three dozen rousing festivals takes readers on a year-round tour of the area's food, culture, and cuisine. Over 150 color photographs and accompanying text provide an intimate view of fun events focused on film, food and wine, daffodils and hydrangeas, road and sailing races, and more.

A novel of family and place and belonging. --Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer Prize finalist

Tender and suspenseful. --Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author

Some places never leave you...

Set during the splendid summer days of 1960s Martha's Vineyard, this page-turning debut novel pulls back the curtain on one mysterious and wealthy family as seen through the eyes of their nanny--a college student who, while falling in love on the elegant island, is also forced to reckon with the dark underbelly of privilege. 

From the author of The Salt House and This Is Home comes a profound novel about the power of community and a small town's long-buried secrets as a group of New England islanders come together for a recently orphaned girl. 

On Ichabod Island, a jagged strip of land thirteen miles off the coast of Massachusetts, ten-year-old Sky becomes an orphan for the second time after a tragic accident claims the lives of her adoptive parents.