Dabney Kimball Beech
works for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce and she loves everything about the
island. The residents of Nantucket all
think quite highly of Dabney too. Dabney is responsible for matching 42 couples which gives her the well deserved title of
matchmaker. Sadly, as great a matchmaker as Dabney is, she let her own true
love match slip away. Clendenin Hughes was Dabney's true love match but
he left the island to pursue a journalism career 27 years ago. Although
Dabney has moved on with her life Clen still holds a large piece of her
heart.
After years of silence between
the two, the story begins with Clen emailing Dabney to let her know that he's
decided to move back to Nantucket. The
moment Clen arrives back on the island Dabney begins to feel unwell and she is
convinced it’s simply heartache. To complicate matters, she is terrified of leaving the island and can’t get the courage
to go to Boston for the medical tests to confirm her self diagnosis. Her fear of leaving Nantucket is what cost
her to lose Clen in the first place. Between
not feeling well and all the lies she is telling Dabney is having a hard time
keeping it all together. As Dabney
begins to unravel she continues to keep matching friends and family with their
true loves.
The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand is a story filled with
true love but a fair amount of heartache as well. Like most, if not all, Elin Hildebrand novels,
the setting for The Matchmaker is once again the beautiful island of Nantucket.
The setting descriptions will make you wish you were lying on a beach. The Matchmaker is a perfect
summer read.