Bestselling Author Elin Hilderbrand Opens Up About Her Breast Cancer Journey: 'Entire Perspective Changed'

New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand is no stranger to writing enthralling and page-turning tales, but the author’s own story is both informing and inspiring her readers.  

At age 45, Hildebrand was diagnosed with breast cancer, and recently, the author sat down with The Washington Post to share how that experience impacted her writing. To learn what she said, keep scrolling.  

Elin Hilderbrand on her cancer  

“My entire perspective changed after cancer. Things that used to bother me no longer did,” revealed the author. “I narrowed the scope of my life down to my children, my writing, my friends, my island, taking care of my body through exercise and delicious food and taking care of my mind through reading and travel. I don’t bother with a lot else.” 

Hilderbrand was already a bestselling author when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. She was also a single mother. It was because of her kids that her #mamastrong came to be.  

“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my kids were 14, 12 and 8. My middle child, Dawson, immediately shaved his head and posted on his nascent Instagram account, ‘Mom is strong.’ My youngest child, Shelby, adopted this in her own way and came up with the phrase ‘mamastrong,’ which she would accompany by flexing her bicep and kissing it,” explained Hilderbrand. “It was so funny and yet so poignant that I decided to use the saying as my motto.”  

That hashtag would go on to inspire a care package that the author sends out. “After I was through my six-hour double mastectomy and subsequent reconstruction, I worked with my publisher, Little, Brown, to establish an initiative called #mamastrong, where they would send boxes of my books to cancer treatment centers.”  

 The author also opened up about how important having a support system was for her during her surgery. “At the time of my cancer diagnosis, I was newly divorced, but my ex-husband was a huge support,” she told The Washington Post. “My surgery was scheduled for the same night as my son Maxx’s eighth-grade dance, his first formal. My friends sent an album of pictures that I was able to look at in the recovery room. Thinking about this makes me cry now. 

Elin Hilderbrand talks about her ‘Nantucket’ series  

Hilderbrand’s bestselling  Nantucket series wrapped up earlier this year with her book Swan Song. This plot follows Ed Kapenash who is ready to retire after serving for 35 years as chief of police on Nantucket Island. But just before his retirement, he receives a phone call that pulls him right back on the force.   

“My decision to retire the Nantucket-based novels came from a related place of wisdom,” Hilderbrand told The Washington Post. “My kids are now 24, 22 and 18. I realize I only have a few more years before they have families of their own and I want to be present for them now [and] it’s amazing how much parenting is still required in these later years.”   

“I know a lot of my readers don’t understand why I’m retiring the Nantucket-based novels. I’m finishing here because I want to exit while I’m at my best. Will there be other novels? Yes. Will any of them be set on Nantucket? Never say never.” 

 There are four books in the Nantucket series, and one of them — The Perfect Couple — was just adapted into a Netflix miniseries starring Nicole Kidman, Meghann Fahy, Liev Schreiber, Eve Hewson and others.  

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