Connecting The Characters

In The Islanders and Summer Stage

Both The Islanders and Summer Stage by Meg Mitchell Moore are set on Block Island in the summer, while I would put them in the category of beach reads the depths of the characters and storylines can be enjoyed all year round. Each is a stand-alone novel and not a series, however I would read The Islanders before Summer Stage ( I read them in reverse). In Summer Stage many of your favorite characters from The Islanders pop up.

Warning: This post includes spoilers for both books.

Joy- She is one of the main characters in The Islanders her bakery Joy Bombs plays an important location in Summer Stage where most important conversations occur throughout the book. Joy is a single parent and small business owner who lives on the island all year round, while she feels that she has built a great life for herself and her daughter Maggie that all changes when she meets her soul mate Anthony and marries him.

In both books, Joy is depicted as a strong character who works and loves the island very dearly while always trying to do the right thing.

Anthony- In The Islanders, he comes to Block Island while his world is crumbling back home. Anthony is escaping his reality while trying to figure it all out on the tiny summer island. He falls in love with Joy who he eventually marries. In The Islanders, Anthony is one of the main characters and we learn a lot about him and his back story. In Summer Stage he only makes small cameos at his signature seat at Poor House Pub nursing a seltzer water and working on his next book.

Maggie- Joy's teenage daughter plays a larger role in The Islanders but also is told important information in the unfolding of the plot in Summer Stage. In The Islanders, Maggie learns some tough lessons about being a teenager and we see the power struggle between her and Joy, while in Summer Stage she becomes the main character's first friend when Sam arrives on the island.

Shelly- You won't forget this eccentric character in both books. A New York literary public relations agent who represents Anthony in The Islanders and goes to find him on Block Island. In Summer Stage she loved the island so much she decided to spend an entire summer just in time to help Amy promote the play.

Holly- Makes a brief appearance in both novels but is always in the background. In The Islanders, she is Joy's friend who gives her a heads up about the new food truck on the island and in Summer Stage she is a Real Estate Agent who has moved on from her job at The Chamber of Commerce and happens to know Amy from childhood offering to help find housing for the cast.

Riley- Is Holly's daughter and Maggie's best friend. She is never a main character but does impact the storyline. In The Islanders, she is the one who told Maggie to try vaping and in Summer Stage she has a boyfriend to who she has been sending inappropriate texts. In both books her actions impact Maggie.

The Islanders and Summer Stage by Meg Mitchell Moore are magical books and page-turners. I love it when an author overlaps characters from one book to another.