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Having helped visitors to the East End out of snarled traffic and through the steps of celebrity and local recipes, Jodi Della Femina is now bringing readers a beach book filled with romance, food, and an insider’s view of the Hamptons.
Ms. Della Femina joined forces with Sheri McInnis, author of “Devil May Care,” to write her first novel, “By Invitation Only.” She began on the project alone, but after she found herself in the middle of many changes, including moving and having her third child, she reached out to her agent, who in turn put her in touch with Ms. McInnis, another client then based in Toronto.
“It’s a funny story,” Ms. Della Femina said in a telephone interview last week. “I was writing the book on my Blackberry in the car with my kids.”
Ms. Della Femina continued to use her Blackberry, not to write the book, but to text and call Ms. McInnis as they began working on the novel together.
“I was interested in the idea of writing about the Hamptons, but I didn’t know what it would be like to work with someone I didn’t know,” Ms. McInnis said in a separate telephone interview. She acknowledged that she had long been fascinated with the Hamptons, but had never been to the area before this collaboration.
The goal was to transport readers to the East End and give them a positive and realistic experience of Hamptons life.
“It’s one of the most perfect places, but it comes with a lot of rules,” Ms. Della Femina explained. “We wanted to give a taste of the Hamptons in a positive way for those who can’t make it over here.”
The novel centers on the busy summer of Toni Fratelli, who moves from New York City back to East Hampton to help her father with his business after her dream of opening her own restaurant in the city fails. Her summer heats up as she starts her own catering company, caters the wedding of her best friend, Layla, to Hudson, a Southampton millionaire, and finds love with Chris, a strangely familiar surfer.
But things get complicated in rapid succession as the groom’s mother tries to stop her son from marrying a local girl, the catering competition tries to run Toni out of business, and Chris turns out to be hiding a secret that could ruin their relationship.
Daughter of ad-man and restaurateur Jerry Della Femina, Ms. Della Femina drew inspiration from her own life to shape this novel. The protagonist, Toni Fratelli, is not-so-loosely based on Ms. Della Femina, both authors explained.
Like Ms. Della Femina, Toni has lived shuttling back and forth from New York City to East Hampton most of her life, has a father who runs an Italian restaurant, and also “knows all the shortcuts and scenic routes too well.” The other characters, like Toni’s best friend, Layla, or Layla’s fiancée, Hudson, are not based on anybody in particular but are composites of people that Ms. Della Femina and Ms. McInnis know or have known in their lives.
“I feel it’s a nice balance of fun and information,” Ms. McInnis said of the novel, which includes information on the East End in the form of excerpts from a fictional book, “The Guru’s Guide to the Hamptons.”
Ms. Della Femina and Ms. McInnis are already planning another collaboration on a book set in Brooklyn, and are thinking of doing a sequel for “By Invitation Only.”
“This process worked out so well that it was a no-brainer for us,” Ms. McInnis said. “As soon as it was finished, we started planning the next project.”
Published on June 23, “By Invitation Only” by Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis is available on Amazon and from major booksellers and local bookstores.
on Jun 30, 2009