Elin Hilderbrand’s new book ‘The Academy’ already has a TV adaptation in the works
Ahead of her Boston Book Fest appearance, Elin Hilderbrand announces new novel with daughter Shelby Cunningham, multiple screen adaptations — and her final book tour.
When Elin Hilderbrand announced she was retiring her Nantucket-set novels last year, her legion of hardcore fans doubtlessly, collectively, deflated.
Fear not, Hilderbrand fans: Her latest book simply takes the drama inland, from Nantucket to Western Mass.
The Queen of Beach Reads has pivoted to dark academia. I blazed through “The Academy,” Hilderbrand’s latest, co-written with daughter Shelby Cunningham.
Think Curtis Sittenfield’s “Prep” meets “A Separate Peace” with a dash of Donna Tartt’s genre-definer “The Secret History” and a “Gilmore Girls” vibe. It also has some Hilderbrand-novel trademarks: multiple points of view, mouth-watering food descriptions, and juicy drama.
This isn’t YA. There are a few storylines here and they thread together seamlessly. I was gripped — and thanking my lucky stars I graduated high school before social media.
The nutshell: When a gossipy social media app hits the fictional Tiffin Academy in Western Mass, all hell breaks loose. The elite high school has just been ranked the number two boarding school in the country — a seventeen-spot jump up from last year. Head of School Audre Robinson wonders if something fishy is going on with their school board president and deep-pockets donor Jesse Eastman.
Meanwhile, there’s student and faculty drama galore. Among the many plots: A girl who died by suicide left her boyfriend an email, not to be opened until their graduation, the next year. The school chef is sketchy. An app called ZipZap is exposing personal secrets. Among them: Davi Banerjee, social media influencer and resident queen bee is hiding an eating disorder; Simone Bergeron, the new history teacher has a dark history of her own; and plenty of dirt, scandals, and secret affairs…
Hilderbrand tells me Cunningham, 20, a student at the University of Miami, checked for Gen Z authenticity on everything from music to sneakers.
Example: a scene when Charley, the awkward bookish new girl arrives at school: “She wears a kelly-green Lacoste polo… a belt embroidered with whales [and] boat shoes.”
You might think that’s what rich kids wear at elite schools. But we’re told, “If it were 1984, she would fit right in.… Now the girls all wear Reformation, Golden Goose… Oh dear.”
This is book one of a two-book deal. The sequel, tentatively titled “The Thoroughbreds,” will tackle our cast’s senior year and graduation.
It feels ripe for screen adaptation — and apparently that’s what it’s getting.
“This is in development with a major streamer,” Hilderbrand told me in our phone interview. “They’re going to announce it soon. It has a showrunner of a very popular show. So it’s in the works, and we’re very excited.”
Add that to the stack of Hilderbrand books headed to screen: “The Five-Star Weekend,” her 2023 bestseller, is being adapted into a Peacock series starring Jennifer Garner and Chloë Sevigny. Plus, Hilderbrand tells me “The Paradise” trilogy is in development, as is “Hotel Nantucket,” “28 Summers,” and the “Winter Street” series. Season two of Netflix hit “The Perfect Couple” is also in development.
Hilderbrand tells me she’ll discuss both “The Academy” and Hollywood (Hilderwood?) at the Boston Book Fest Oct. 25.
Catch her while you can. Next fall “will be my very last tour,” Hilderbrand says. “Any new book that I [publish after ‘26], I’m not going to tour. I just don’t have the bandwidth anymore.”
She will, however, continue her regular Wednesday signings at Mitchell’s Book Corner on Nantucket.
I caught up with mom and daughter (who consider each other best friends) to talk about their collaboration, writing process, the possibility of retirement — and why your name might end up in their next book.
Boston.com: So what sparked this novel?
Cunningham: I went to boarding school. I’d call my mom with stories all the time. Eventually she said, we have to make a book.
Elin, at this point, had you already decided to retire the Nantucket series?
Hilderbrand: I was retiring with “Swan Song” (2024) but I sort of used that to my advantage because I went to my publisher at the end of ’22 and said, “Would you guys be interested in a boarding school book I’d write with Shelby?” They didn’t hesitate. They ordered a two-book contract.
Sometimes with co-written books, you can hear separate voices, it’s a bit patchy, but this is so seamless. It reads as one continuous voice.
Cunningham: I think that’s because I’ve read so many of my mom’s books. I’ve been reading them since sixth grade. So we have a similar writing style, [it’s just] the way I’ve learned to write. That made it a lot easier to blend.
Great point. So how did the co-writing process work?
Cunningham: There are multiple perspectives — the adults on faculty, then students. We created all the characters together. We went to dinner on Nantucket, she brought a notepad, and we planned everything out. Then I focused more on the student [characters], she did more of the faculty. She edited what I wrote. And I edited everything that she wrote a lot.
[laughs]
Hilderbrand: All the clothes, music, all the makeup — Shelby did all of that. Anything that would require authenticity went to Shelby.
We went character by character, we figured out their arcs over two books. Then basically, I gave Shelby writing assignments: “Okay, now you’re going to write a scene from Davi’s point-of-view.” Shelby was instrumental in getting the kids right.
Elin, did you read dark academia to prepare, in order to switch gears?
Hilderbrand: I read [John Knowles] “A Separate Peace.” I hadn’t read it since high school, and the number one thing I realized: there is not a single woman in it. It’s almost exclusively men. There’s one or two women mentioned as wives. But it’s really a novel without women. So we wanted to make “The Academy” female-forward. I reread “Prep” by Curtis Sittenfeld, a book I’ve loved for 20 years. I read memoirs by people who had attended boarding school.
What were your favorite characters to write?
Cunningham: My favorite is Davi [the popular girl.] Writing her was really fun because that’s who I find myself most similar to. Whereas my mom is so Charley [the nerd.]
[laughs]
Hilderbrand: Oh yeah. I was such a nerd in high school. Shelby was absolutely not. She was very popular, had a lot of friends, much more like Davi. She knew how to navigate the social life. I never did.
I hadn’t considered it until now — it’s a little meta — Davi takes Charley under her wing and helps her become cooler. That’s basically what Shelby did with me here. “I’m gonna help you write this book and become cooler.”
Charley is the character I most relate to, too — the quiet, loner reader. I’m guessing a lot of readers might feel that.
Hilderbrand: Totally. One thing that I realized, Lauren, is people love a main character who reads. Because we’re reading.
Exactly, we automatically relate. And who was your favorite character to write?
Hilderbrand: Cordelia Spooner [the admissions director]. This continues to book two. I love Cordelia Spooner so much. She’s the classic, matronly, working behind-the-scenes shadow-head. Turns out she’s gay, and she’s having this [secret] affair with the college counselor. But she’s also molding Tiffin to be this perfect cocktail party of a school. I love that.
You’ve also got the school chef: a top chef with maybe a shady past, who ends up getting a gig at the school. Adding him was a clever way to tuck in those classic Hilderbrand food-descriptions and menus.
Hilderbrand: I was thinking: What do people love about my summer novels? One thing: the food. So any Elin Hildebrand book set at a boarding school is going to have incredible food. How do I do that? I thought: “We’ll have a chef who’s fallen on hard times and takes this job because he has no other recourse.” And it has to do with [big donor] Jesse Eastman. Again, all of this will come back in book two: What happens to Chef?
This is a small thing, but speaking of food: you have characters named Honey and Cinnamon? Was that an inside joke?
Hilderbrand: [laughs]. I did not even realize until this second that they’re both food names. How did we come up with Cinnamon? Shelby, do you remember?
Cunningham: That was all you.
Hilderbrand: I think I had someone come through my signing line named Cinnamon. Honey is a name I’ve wanted to use since I did a signing in Nashville a million years ago. I had two women come through my line: Honey and Cordelia. I’m like, “I’m gonna use both of these names.” I keep lists on my phone.
Shelby, what’s it like growing up with a famous mom on Nantucket?
Cunningham: When I was younger, I didn’t really get it. Everyone on Nantucket knows who she is, but it’s such a small town. People didn’t really fan-girl over her until I was old enough to go out and see her signings. Then I was like, “Whoa. This is my mom, not some celebrity.” It was really cool to watch her grow. Because since we were younger, her following has increased so much.
So you two are writing book two, and will turn that in around Halloween, you said. Elin, do you have a next novel in mind?
Hilderbrand: The good thing is I’m retired, so I can take my time. This piggybacked on my retirement and delayed it because I’m still working on deadline. But as soon as I turn this in, I’m going to take an actual break.
In 2027 there will be no book out, and no touring, no nothing. Will I be writing during that year? Yes. But I’m not taking a contract. I’m going to write a book and turn it in when I absolutely feel I want to.
Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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