Swan Song

The Richardsons are a wealthy couple that arrives in Nantucket during the summer, presumably with an eye to making the island their home; their wealth and flamboyance roil the locals, and the central mystery in the book revolves around their house burning down and their “personal concierge” going missing. A secondary mystery is the difference between their initial popularity and their diminished social standing by the end of the summer.

Australian Bullfinch “Bull” Richardson owns a beverage distribution plant that largely does business in Indonesia, and he also produces films. He loves his wife deeply and is indulgent of her many idiosyncrasies, including her extravagant spending, her social climbing, and her need for constant male attention. Leslee Richardson is a self-centered woman given over to a life of decadence and hedonism. She grew up working class in Nevada, worked hard to put herself through school, and met Bull when she was working as a bartender in Vegas.

Leslee’s extravagance possibly stems from the deprivation she experienced growing up. She is obsessed with gaining acceptance into the upper echelons of society—something the Richardsons’ have unsuccessfully tried to do in places like Florida before arriving in Nantucket. Part of their failure comes from Leslee’s lack of self-awareness and inability to adhere to social norms by tamping down her sexual aggression that sometimes veers close to assault. Put off by her selfishness and superficiality, any newfound friends initially attracted by her lavish spending soon abandon her.

Bull is more personally benign. For instance, he is considerate toward Coco, admitting that working for Leslee can be difficult and offering Coco whatever she needs to make the job easier. He also rejects Coco’s sexual overture, seeing it as desperation. However, Bull lacks integrity in business matters instead. He is under investigation by the SEC, his company is being legislated against for environmental violations, and the IRS suspects him of tax evasion. Bull echoes Leslee’s tendency to manipulate others when he tries to get Eddie and Addison to cut each other out of their joint real estate development venture.

The Richardsons are the novel’s antagonists, so much so that Leslee is eventually revealed to be the arsonist who set fire to Triple Eight for the insurance money and who amassed boxes of cash as an escape backup plan. Their eventual comeuppance—prison for Leslee and financial ruin for Bull—is satisfying for readers.

Coco is a young woman who grew up in poverty in Rosebush, Arkansas; she begins the novel working at a bar in Virgin Islands. Her life’s ambition is to become a screenwriter, and she has penned a movie about her life. When she overhears Bull talking about producing movies and moving to Nantucket, she lies that she knows the island well and gets the Richardsons to hire her as their “personal concierge” for the summer.

At times, Coco serves as a foil to Leslee: Coco’s current service employee status contrasts with Leslee’s thoughtless extravagance, such as spending an exorbitant amount on a crate of Amalfi lemons. However, Coco and Leslee also have parallels: Both experienced poverty in childhood, both left home to make a better life, and both met their chance at fortune—Bull—while bartending. Moreover, neither woman is above using manipulation or deception to get what she wants.

However, Coco most differs from Leslee because she forms real, authentic relationships with others. While Coco does aim to use the Richardsons’ connections to sell her screenplay, she doesn’t employ the same transactional behavior with other people. She forms a genuine friendship with Kacy and a strong romantic partnership with Lamont. Coco often treats Leslee, whom she despises for her extravagance and arrogant behavior, humanely and considerately: Coco tends to Leslee when Leslee is upset about not getting into the Field and Oar Club. In contrast, Leslee treats everyone as a means to an end: She cozies up to Phoebe to get into Field and Oar, propositions Avalon for sex, hires Lamont and Coco to show her nonracist bona fides, and comes on to any man near her for self-gratification. For these reasons, the novel argues that Coco deserves the happy ending she eventually receives.

Because Coco is missing in the present timeframe, her storyline in the past builds suspense and intrigue. It is implied that Coco set fire to the Richardsons’ house and escaped as a form of revenge—or that Leslee killed Coco out of jealousy. Past events show Coco’s mistreatment at Leslee’s hands, giving her motive that is eventually revealed as a red herring, misdirecting readers away from the real solution to the mystery.