In a matter of days, Elin Hilderbrand’s Netflix series, The Perfect Couple, exploded on the streaming platform. By the end of its first week in September, the Nantucket whodunit hit 103.5 million hours viewed, with 20.3 million individual views—enough to make it the most-watched show on Netflix that week. The Perfect Couple topped the Netflix charts again in its second week, this time boasting 111.6 million hours viewed.

While Hilderbrand was surprised the show had become an instant hit, its success on Netflix might not have been as surprising to Hilderbrand’s loyal following who have kept up with the so-called Queen of Beach Reads’ impressive resume of 27 Nantucket novels. Hilderbrand now believes the show could drive a spike in tourism for the island, and not just in the summer. “I just wasn’t sure,” Hilderbrand said. “I hoped this was how it would turn out, but in terms of numbers, I had no idea what to expect. Am I surprised we beat Emily in Paris? I’m shocked. I love that show.”

The Perfect Couple—an upscale Fourth of July weekend wedding that descends into a murder mystery when the maid of honor turns up dead on the beach—is Hilderbrand’s first novel adapted into a TV series. Hilderbrand said there’s hope for a second—or third—adaptation based on another book from her Nantucket series. That goal leaves TV producers with a slate of material to work with from her prolific career—one that now sees Hilderbrand retiring from Nantucket novels. She released her final Nantucket book, Swan Song, this summer, and is working on two new books with her daughter, in addition to putting out her Beach, Books, & Beyond podcast with Tim Ehrenberg. For her stellar year, N Magazine is naming Hilderbrand Person of the Year. N Magazine caught up with Hilderbrand on the heels of her Netflix hit on what the show could mean for offseason tourism and what’s next for her.

N Magazine: Did you have Netflix in mind when you were writing The Perfect Couple? Do you ever think about a TV or film adaptation while writing?



Elin Hilderbrand: You have to write the book, and that’s really the most important part. If I was thinking about Netflix, I would be writing a screenplay. I have a background in literary fiction. It was always the integrity of the writing that came first for me, and I have only been worried about writing the best book I can. The fact that The Perfect Couple is a murder lends itself to being on TV because for whatever reason that’s what people want to watch.

N Magazine: As you were writing, did you always know who the killer would be?

Elin Hilderbrand: No. I didn’t figure it out until about two-thirds of the way through. As I was starting, I didn’t know. I was just getting started and figuring out my characters. As I was writing, it was the middle of August and I was outside by my pool and came into the living room when it just clicked. I took it one step further back. Then I was like, “Oh my God.”

N Magazine: Was your approach to writing a mystery different from your previous books on Nantucket?

Elin Hilderbrand: Not really. I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know how to write a murder mystery. I knew there would be a body, but I didn’t know whose it would be because I don’t know who my characters really are until I spend time with them. Initially, when I turned my draft in, the person found dead was the bride, and my editor [Reagan Arthur] said she loved the book, but the wrong person died. She said, “It should be Merritt [Monaco]. It should be the maid of honor.” I changed the book around and it all clicked. I didn’t have to change every page, and a lot of the novel stayed the same.

N Magazine: You have been called the “Queen of Beach Reads,” but you have chosen to describe your novels as “escapist.” How would you define “escapist,” and what goes into writing an escapist novel?

Elin Hilderbrand: It has to take you to a place you want to go. Anyone reading on Nantucket knows that Nantucket is a dreamland. It is a fantasy world. To a person visiting, especially via fiction, there are so many beautiful things here that aren’t in other places. You’re not waiting at a stoplight, not sitting in traffic on an exit ramp in miles of traffic. You don’t have strip malls or Olive Gardens or the things that define urban sprawl. To the casual visitor, it’s beautiful and especially in the summertime. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most beautiful American summer resort, period. To be escapist, you need to take people to places they want to go and have lots and lots of drama and reasons to turn the page. I write about flawed characters. That’s where my expertise lies: flawed characters that do terrible things, make terrible decisions, but are still people who you care about.

N Magazine: There are quite a few changes from the novel to the series. The bride’s name, for one. Were any of those changes your suggestions?

Elin Hilderbrand: It was in the hands of the showrunner, Jenna Lamia. She wrote the scripts. Her goal was to make propulsive TV, and she had to sacrifice a lot of the backstory and the love affairs. When I watched, I knew why Tag [Winbury] and Merritt were together, but then as I read the reviews, I realized people don’t know about Tag and Merritt. They don’t know about Shooter [Uxley] and Celeste [Otis]. But she had to curtail it. There’s a lot of drama around Celeste’s parents in the book [that does not make it into the show]. One of my favorite reveals [in the book]is when Celeste’s father reveals something to Tag that’s astonishing. That was her decision, and I have always felt that for any project of mine going to the screen, people should read the book. It would be edifying to read the novel afterward, because then you would understand the show a lot better. Even me, I watched the first episode—I was coming from Hollywood at the premiere—then the next day I had to fly to New York City. I watched episodes two, three and four on the plane, and I landed in JFK Airport at the end of episode four and I had to go to bed. I was saying I can’t keep myself from watching episodes five and six. You’re so immersed in the world and the characters.

N Magazine: You announced last year that Swan Song would be your final Nantucket novel. You told N Magazine at the time you had “done it all.” But does the popularity of The Perfect Couple make you reconsider writing another Nantucket novel?



Elin Hilderbrand: Hell no, I’m done. The reason I retired from the Nantucket books is because I had written 27 books and covered everything. Do I have ideas for other Nantucket books? Kind of down the road. The problem was the schedule I was on—a book every summer, touring. It was so punishing. I needed a break. I’m not ready to go back and do another Nantucket book. As far as Hollywood goes, they have plenty of material if they want it.