The "Prince of Nantucket" comes home
Author Jan Goldstein on island to discuss the book Nantucket inspired
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
Jan Goldstein was having a rough time - his father had just died, and he was going through a divorce - when he came to Nantucket for time away.

COURTESY THE CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP "Prince of Nantucket" is author Jan Goldstein's second novel.

"I felt like an island in a sense, and I found Nantucket a glorious place to heal and renew myself," said Goldstein, who set his latest and sophomore novel, "Prince of Nantucket," on the island. The book's lead character, Teddy, is a California senatorial candidate going through a similar crisis of the soul (and a campaign) when he moves to Nantucket to care for an ailing mother.

"When my mother died of an Alzheimer's related illness, we had a wonderful relationship," remembered Goldstein, who has three book talks on island this week. "I wondered what would happen if a son didn't have a wonderful relationship with his mother and then finds out everything he believed about her was wrong and then only had a narrow window to get to know her."

While biking the Nantucket bike paths, Goldstein concluded that Nantucket was the perfect setting because it would allow for the family to be secluded, in a sense. It also became a metaphor for each of the characters in the book, who are "each an island unto themselves," Goldstein said. Likewise, the Nantucket fog comes to represent the protagonist's occluded, L.A. mindset.

Jan Goldstein's new novel relates the story of a California politician who comes to Nantucket to care for his ailing mother while in the middle of a senatorial campaign.

Nantucket readers will recognize more than a few historic and contemporary landmarks in the book. The Even Keel makes an appearance, as does the Visitor's Center and even a particular house on Baxter Road. (Goldstein won't identify which, but he did say that a few readers have already figured it out for themselves.)

Intangible qualities of Nantucket are also at play. Teddy's ailing mother is an artist. "To me, Nantucket has that gift of art," said Goldstein, who gave Teddy a moody teen daughter named Zoe and a love interest in waitress - cum - photographer and islander, Liza. She "challenges everything Teddy believes about women," while administering a ration of Nantucket horse sense.

"It's Liza reminding Teddy that there's a sensibility that allows him to work out some of his issues, reminding him that he needs to get back in touch with roots and with what's real and authentic," said Goldstein, who added that he drew on what he could assess of the cultural differences between summer residents and year-round residents. "It's something Teddy's mother tries to give him in her art, and it's ultimately an awakening for Teddy and for his daughter, who comes to the island, and it awakens something inside of her, the way it awakens something inside of me. I feel like I celebrate life more when

I'm on Nantucket." I
BOOK SIGNING
When: Fri., June 29, 6 p.m.
Where: Nantucket Bookworks,
25 Broad St.
Cost: Free
BOOK SIGNING
When: Sun., July 1

Where: Mitchell's Book Corner,
54 Main St.
Cost: Free
BOOK TALK
When: Mon., July 2, 8 p.m.
Where: Nantucket Atheneum
(Great Hall), 1 India St.
Cost: $15 ($10 for seniors
and students)
For more information,
call 228-1110.