Sunny Hostin on ‘Summer on Sag Harbor’
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Sunny Hostin didn’t really feel the pressure until her third book. The first, her memoir, was a national bestseller, and then her fiction debut, “Summer on the Bluffs,” became a New York Times bestseller. When she mulled the idea of a second novel, she started to worry about disappointing her readers.
“It took me two years to write this one because I was nervous. I was like, ‘I can’t catch lightning in a bottle again,’” she says.
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Hostin, the ABC News correspondent and cohost of “The View,” was motivated to write a second novel after the fans of her first one began asking follow-up questions about her characters. “Summer on the Bluffs,” which takes place on Martha’s Vineyard, came out during the pandemic and Hostin was therefore limited to a virtual book tour, which meant meeting with a lot of book clubs over Zoom.
“And over and over again, although everyone told me how relatable it was and how they saw themselves and how much they loved the book, many people said, ‘What about Olivia? Olivia got the short end of the stick,’” she says of her character. “I actually didn’t feel that way. I thought Olivia did fine, but people wanted to know more about her story and her journey.”
For the new book, “Summer on Sag Harbor,” she pivoted from the Vineyard to Sag Harbor, a destination she’d long been eager to explore.
“I wanted to celebrate these historically Black beach communities. And there aren’t that many of them. Actually, in the U.S. there are only three that are really still vibrant. We all know the story of Bruce’s Beach and how it was taken away,” she says of the Black-owned beach in Manhattan Beach, California, that was seized by municipal leaders. “I knew it was going to be in Sag Harbor, but I didn’t know that it was going to be Olivia’s journey. My readers taught me that.”
Hostin spends time in Sag Harbor both during the year, starting in Joy Behar’s empty guest house, and during the summer, when she and her husband go for an “adults only weekend” with friends.
“What’s special about it is it’s a small community. Martha’s Vineyard is much better known and much bigger. This is a small community on a small private beach, and it’s very intentional. I think that’s what makes it very special,” Hostin says. “They just formalized it as a historic landmark. These three beachfront communities that I write about are called HBBCs, historically Black beach communities. It’s an actual historic designation that you have to get for it. I think it’s really special that there’s this history attached to it.”
Due to her job Hostin is usually reading heavy material for the show, so when she gets to read for pleasure she reaches for a beach read.
“Elin Hilderbrand was one of my favorites because she writes about Nantucket and it’s all so pretty and it has romance. I almost feel like I’m on the beach when I read her book. I wanted to read that kind of book, centering women of color. And it didn’t really exist,” Hostin says. “I vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and I vacation on Sag Harbor and I vacation on Island Beach. So I know these communities exist because I go to them. And I thought, well, why not write about it?”
Finding the time to churn out a book while appearing on TV daily is no small feat, however. Her time became especially limited during the pandemic, when ABC built a studio at her home and she therefore was working all the time.
“I was doing segments for ‘GMA’ and ’20/20′ and ‘Nightline.’ It was actually pretty hard to get this one out,” she says of her new novel. “I generally write at night because that’s the only free time that I have. It’s difficult because I have to get up pretty early for our show, but it’s the only time that it’s quiet. My husband goes to bed early because he’s a doctor and he sees patients very early. My kids go to bed early; they’re athletes. So I write when everyone goes to sleep. And that’s usually not till 11, unfortunately. I let everybody know in the house at 11 o’clock is my time, and I’ve got deadlines to meet.”
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