Even in the most lavish of worlds, there’s no such thing as the perfect life — or the perfect couple.
That’s the premise of Elin Hilderbrand’s 2018 novel "The Perfect Couple" and a Netflix series of the same name out Sept. 5.
Hilderbrand, who has been coined the unofficial queen of the beach read, has written 30 books, nearly all of which have been sent on the island of Nantucket, a haven for New England’s elite.
Her 2018 novel has been turned into a Netflix miniseries starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson, Dakota Fanning and Meghann Fahy.
Read on for a summary of what happens in Hilderbrand's book.
What is ‘The Perfect Couple’ about?
Elin Hilderbrand’s novel "The Perfect Couple" unfolds on Nantucket Island, 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
The groom's mother, Greer, has planned over-the-top wedding featuring 170 guests for the Fourth of July weekend.
Then comes a twist as juicy as a Bartlett’s Farm tomato: The maid of honor, Merritt Monaco, is found dead just hours before her best friend, Celeste, is set to get married.
The book switches between timelines and perspectives to reveal Celeste and Benji’s whirlwind romance and the police's investigation as they try to piece together what happened to Merritt.
Everyone is a suspect, including the father of the groom, Tag; the best man, Shooter Uxley; the mother of the groom, Greer; and the bride herself.
What happens at the end of ‘The Perfect Couple’?
Warning: Spoilers for "The Perfect Couple" follow.
Merritt was found in the water with barbiturates in her body. Was it an accident? No, and Greer, a mystery novelist, is fittingly the only one to figure it out. Her revelation comes at the end of the novel.
The night before the wedding, Merritt, Tag, Tag and Greer's older son Thomas and family friend Featherleigh Dale gather for a nightcap on the sandy shores of Nantucket.
Greer suspects Featherleigh is having an affair with her husband. In fact, Merritt is having the affair with her husband (and is pregnant!) and Featherleigh is having an affair with her married son, Thomas.
Thomas tried to end things but Featherleigh continued to pursue him. Abigail, Thomas’ wife, caught on. Eventually, Greer figures out that Abigail took pills from Greer’s own stash and crushed them in a drink meant for Featherleigh “to put the old girl to sleep… to keep her from fooling around with Thomas.” Instead, Merritt drinks the Veuve.
The novel ends with Merritt, with sleeping pills in her system, going out with Tag in his canoe. On her way back to the house, she cuts her foot on the champagne glasses that Chloe, a server and the child of the police chief, had dropped earlier. She walks to the water to rinse the sand out of her wound, relying on salt water's curing powers.
Staring into the water, she sees a glint of the thumb ring that Tag had given her. She walks into the water with the intention of one day passing the ring on to their child, whom she has resolved to have. Once in the water, the pills kick in and it seems she drowns.
The novel ends there, with no conclusion as to whether anyone answers for Merritt’s death.
“Abby may even realize she’s to blame, and Thomas will never put two and two together. The secret resides with Greer, and with Greer it will remain until her death,” the novel reads.
What are major differences between the book and TV show?
Fans of Hilderbrand’s New York Times bestseller will immediately notice some key differences between the book and the Netflix series, which was filmed on Cape Cod and Nantucket.
In Hilderbrand’s book, the main character’s name is Celeste Otis. In the new Netflix series, the soon-to-be bride is renamed Amelia Sacks, played by Eve Hewson.
That’s not the only change that Hilderbrand’s protagonist underwent. In the book, Celeste suffers from sudden onset stuttering, seemingly brought on by the stress of wedding planning. Amelia does not have a stutter in the Netflix series. In the book, she's a director at the Bronx Zoo and Merritt is her colleague in addition to being her best friend.
Other small changes from the book include:
- The color of Merritt and Celeste's hair is reversed. In the book, Merritt is brunette and Celeste is blond; in the series, Merritt is blond and Amelia is brunette.
- Tag and Greer have two sons in the book and three in the series.
- The last name of Shooter Uxley is changed to Dival in the Netflix series. His backstory is different, too.
- The series introduces state detective Nikki Henry to the mix, and gets rid of a charming detective known as "The Greek."
There are other, deeper differences, too, including how the book handles Celeste’s relationship with Shooter and Greer’s writing career.
In the show, Greer is at the top of her game, but in the book, her most recent manuscript was rejected by her editor and she finds herself struggling to hit the same numbers she once did.
As for whether the series keeps the book's ending? Watch and find out.
Elena Nicolaou
Elena Nicolaou is a senior entertainment editor at Today.com, where she covers the latest in TV, pop culture, movies and all things streaming. Previously, she covered culture at Refinery29 and Oprah Daily. Her superpower is matching people up with the perfect book, which she does on her podcast, Blind Date With a Book.
