Welcome back to Jen’s Jewels, where I love shining a spotlight on authors and the stories behind their books. This week, I’m delighted to feature THE ISLAND CLUB by Nicola Harrison. If you’re looking for an unforgettable story about the power of female friendship, this one is for you.
LIGHTNING ROUND
In three words, describe the feeling readers will have when they finish your book.
Transported, inspired and excited to get out there and try something new (ok that’s not three words but you get the idea).
What’s your favorite writing season: cozy winter, hopeful spring, beachy summer, or reflective fall?
Cozy winter! Even though I live in California where the sun always seems to be shining, I love a good downpour of rain to keep me stuck at home with a sweater, slippers and my dog curled up next to me as I write.
What’s one snack or treat that always appears when you’re deep in writing mode?
Chocolate covered almonds
What’s one small thing that instantly puts you in a creative mood?
As soon as I put on my Warby Parker glasses, I know it’s time to sit down and write.
THE SPRING SPARK
April often feels like a season of renewal. Did anything about this story feel like a fresh start for you as a writer?
Yes, one thing that was new for me with this novel was writing from multiple perspectives. My previous novels have all been written from perspective of a first-person narrator. This time, I wanted readers to inhabit the three interior worlds of Milly, Adele and Sylvia and explore their friendship from different points of view. I didn’t think I could convey the story as well just writing from one women’s perspective.
I thought deeply about female friendship while writing this novel, specifically how our early experiences shape who we become, and how the women we meet along the way can lift us up, challenge us, and change us. I was especially interested in how friendships between women can be lifelines, helping us find our courage and strength when everything around us feels like it’s unraveling.
What was the very first image, line, or idea that sparked this book?
One of the characters in this book is loosely based on an extraordinary French tennis champion from the 1920s called Suzanne Lenglen. In the 1920s, Suzanne was the most famous female athlete in the world.
She won Wimbledon and the French Championships repeatedly and didn’t lose a match for years. She trained with men when women weren’t supposed to and she changed how women dressed on the court – wearing shorter skirts and sleeveless dresses designed by Jean Patou. She showed emotion and fire and wasn’t ashamed to sip brandy between sets. She was dramatic and magnetic and unapologetic, and yet beneath that dazzling exterior was a woman desperate for her father’s approval, terrified of disappointing him, and living under enormous pressure.
The story really developed around this character in many different ways, but this was the spark that got it all started for me.
Many authors say their characters “talk back.” Did any character surprise you or take the story somewhere unexpected?
All three women in this novel felt alive to me, as if they were my own friends. It’s set in the mid-1950s a time when the idealized image of the selfless, smiling housewife was at its height. Women were expected to raise perfectly well-behaved children, maintain immaculate homes, and keep up appearances, all while suppressing their own dreams. Milly in particular spoke to me the most, perhaps because she’s a mother of two trying to keep her family life running smoothly even when she suspects things are falling apart at the seams. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but let’s just say she took the story in places I hadn’t anticipated! And she made it a lot of fun!
Setting can shape a story in powerful ways. What role does the setting play in your book, and what inspired you to choose it?
The story is set on Balboa Island, a tiny, walkable island tucked into Newport Beach, California
To get there, you cross over to the island on the historic ferry – which has been running since 1919 – just 800 feet across the harbor. The houses are charming cottages from the 1920s and 30s, and the streets are named after gemstones – Ruby, Amethyst, Sapphire, Opal. There’s a saltwater taffy shop, a frozen banana stand, old-school diners, art galleries. After finishing my last novel, HOTEL LAGUNA, I knew my next story had to take place here.
I wanted to set this book here because on the surface it really does look like perfection, but inside that perfection three women’s lives are unraveling in very real ways.
Also, Balboa Island has a darker history. Back in the 1920s rumrunners delivered their booze in the early hours of the morning during prohibition, there were backroom politics and illegal gambling in almost every storefront on Mainstreet. While this novel takes place in the 1950s, there’s an undercurrent of the island’s shady past that I wanted to weave into the story.
I almost always begin a novel with a setting before I know anything about the plot. I choose somewhere layered with history and mood – usually somewhere I know and love – and then I start digging.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Writing can be a long journey. Was there a moment while working on this book when you thought, this is why I love being an author?
I loved writing the last third of this novel. At that point I knew where the story was heading, I knew how it would end and I felt like I was on a roll. The beginning and the end are always the most fun to write because in the beginning there’s so much possibility – things could go in any number of directions, and by the end you have a clear finish line ahead.
If readers could step inside one scene from your book and experience it in real life, which scene would you choose and why?
Ooh, there’s a scene where Milly and Sylvia go to the Rendez Vous Ballroom for a night of dancing and that would be a fun scene to experience in real life because it’s so alive with music and youthful energy. Balboa Island used to be THE Spring Break destination for thousands of college students. Before Cancun, South Padre Island, Cabo – Balboa was THE place to be starting in the 1920s going all the way through the 50s. College students from all over California hoped on red car trolleys headed to Balboa Island for a week of sun, sailing, beach parties, house parties, dancing and fooling around all fueled by alcohol and hormones. The influx of spring breakers overwhelmed the town and the Rendez Vous ballroom attracted 1500 kids a night listening and dancing to the best big bands of the time.
LOOKING AHEAD
Without giving away spoilers, what can readers look forward to from you next?
I’m working on a novel set in the Cotswolds in England in a little town where I grew up. It’s my most ambitious novel yet and I’m buzzing with excitement about it. That’s all I can say for now.
Where can readers connect with you and keep up with your latest writing news? (Website, social media, newsletter, etc.)
I’m on Instagram and Facebook, as well as my website.
THE ISLAND CLUB by Nicola Harrison
Narrator: Raven Wildewood
A Novel
An unputdownable novel of loves lost and found, shocking secrets—and the power of female friendship.
1956: On idyllic Balboa Island, just off the California coast, life seems peaceful and welcoming. But when the lives of three women begin to unravel in shockingly different ways, an unlikely friendship—and the game of tennis—may be the only thing that can save them.
Milly Kinkaid’s plan to fix her crumbling marriage seems to be falling apart before it even begins. She believed that moving her young family from Hollywood to Balboa Island might entice her increasingly distant husband to come home earlier after work. Instead, he’s barely coming home at all.
Society matriarch Sylvia Johnson and her husband have been pillars of their community for decades, and have just recently begun a new business venture: The Island Club, a place for members to swim, play tennis and dine in style. But when she learns that he has been risking their financial security and putting their family’s future in grave danger, she’s not only poised to lose the club, but the entire community she holds dear.
Meanwhile, standoffish loner Adele Lambert’s entire world is on the brink of being destroyed if the dark secrets of her past and her hidden identity is revealed. Twenty years ago, she ran from a shameful scandal and left behind the only thing she ever loved. Now, terrified that the anonymity she’s spent decades guarding will be exposed, but desperate to stay afloat, she risks everything to return to the game that brought her to her knees all those years before.
Set against the sun-drenched beaches of Balboa Island, with its prim and proper 1950s facade, The Island Club is a story of love, loneliness and the lies we tell ourselves—and what can be gained when the truth is finally revealed.
Historical | Fiction Literary | Women’s Fiction [ St. Martin’s Press, On Sale: April 28, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9781250277404 / eISBN: 9781250277411 ]
Buy THE ISLAND CLUB: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Nicola Harrison
Born in England, Nicola Harrison moved to CA where she received a BA in Literature at UCLA before moving to NYC and earning an MFA in creative writing at Stony Brook. She is a member of The Writers Room, has short stories published in The Southampton Review and Glimmer Train, and articles in Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast Magazine. She was the fashion and style staff writer for Forbes, had a weekly column at Lucky Magazine, and is the founder of a personal styling business, Harrison Style.
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About Jennifer Vido
Jennifer Vido is the author of The Gull Island Series, sweet Lowcountry romances inspired by her love of coastal living and small-town charm. Serendipity by the Sea won Best First Book from the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Contest, and Baltimore Magazine readers named her Best Local Author in 2024 and 2025.
A Vanderbilt graduate, Jennifer traded in teaching French to follow her dream of becoming an author. She loves discovering and sharing literary gems through her Jen’s Jewels column, celebrating the books that make her heart happy.
Jennifer lives in Maryland with her husband and is mom to two grown sons. Her rescue dog, Fripp, is her constant companion, though he’s better at napping than editing. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her at the beach with her toes in the sand, dreaming about her next romance.
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