Hi, book lovers. This is Ellen Hilderbrand, best-selling author of 30 books, including the Hotel

Mantucket and The Perfect Couple. And this is Tim Arenberg, creator of Tim Talks Books, and you're

listening to Books, Beach and Beyond, presented by N Magazine. We'll be diving into the wonderful

world of books and featuring special guests from

bestselling and award-winning writers, publishing industry insiders, agents and editors, book

influencers, and more.

There's nothing Ellen and I love more than talking about books.

And our favorite question to ask each other is, what are you reading? But we'll go even

further here on the show, exploring the craft of writing, the process of book publishing, and

that wonderful connection a reader has with a favorite book. But before we head into our episode,

we want to take this opportunity to thank our incredible premier sponsors, Nantucket Book Partners, Marine Home Center,

the Nantucket Hotel, Cartelina, and Nantucket Looms. Without their generous support,

we wouldn't be able to bring you these fascinating conversations with some of the most dynamic

leaders from the book world. So thank you. And now, on to the show.

Hi, Ellen. Hi, Tim. So I always start these episodes with a deeper, bigger question. And I want to

start today with fictional characters that you've really resonated with, whether it's someone that you really saw

yourself in or a loved one in, who are those for you?

So I'm going to give you three because I'm older and so, and they resonated at different

parts of my life. The first one is Franny Glass, which is from Franny and Zoe by J.D. Salinger,

love Franny. She's a deeply troubled young woman. She resonated with me when I was a teenager. I loved Franny Glass.

That's one of my favorite books of all time. Another one of my favorite books of all time,

Family Happiness by Lori Colwin, as you know. And Polly Demarest in that book, you know, she's a beleaguered mother of two and she has

...