What is the title of your latest release?
THE STARGAZER OF NANTUCKET
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
THE STARGAZER OF NANTUCKET is an epic coming-of-age tale and a seafaring adventure. Set in 1851, the book takes you on a clipper ship journey with Winifred Starbuck, a stowaway from Nantucket, who joins her captain father and merchant mother on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around Cape Horn, to San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush and on to China, where calamity ensues.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I had to cut the character of Nell Starbuck from my first novel, so I decided to write my entire second novel about her and her family at sea, making her 18-year-old daughter Winnie my main character. I could imagine a lot of action and knew it would be fun to write about this “other” Nantucket, the one not on land, especially centered on women in the mid-1800s.
Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?
Yes!
What are three words that describe your hero?
Winnie is stubborn, free-spirited, and brave. Maybe a little conniving too.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that I like to write from an omniscient point of view – who knew!? In terms of my research, I learned so much history, in particular about the clipper ship era, the founding of San Francisco, and the opium trade.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I draft as I go. I can’t help myself.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Is wine food?! I think I’d say lobster. Or filet mignon. Both served with wine.
Describe your writing space/office!
I live in a 1938 center hall colonial with an attached office between the mudroom and the garage. It has double-height ceilings covered in reclaimed wood, a skylight, a sputnik chandelier, and a table and a sofa in addition to the desk. We moved from New York to RI and when we first toured the home, I said, “I am going to write a novel here.” We bought the house – and the rest is history.
Who is an author you admire?
Judy Blume
Is there a book that changed your life?
I don’t think there’s one specific title that did, but many have influenced me and changed me in one way or another. Some favorites include FOREVER AND SUMMER SISTERS by Judy Blume, ORDINARY PEOPLE by Judith Guest and A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving, who I met and spoke to about the novel in college – that was an important conversation for me as a young writer.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published). Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
The story of “the call” is about my first novel, DAUGHTERS OF NANTUCKET. After lots of rejections, I revised the manuscript for one editor, knowing the changes I was making were worthwhile, even if she didn’t end up wanting to acquire it. When she passed on it, my agent sent it out to 10 more editors, and within 10 days, we had an offer from HarperCollins. Only, there was a blackout in my town so I was sitting in the dark kind of depressed as I waited to hear about the book, so I decided to take a nap on my couch and I didn’t see the email from my agent and so she called me and was like - did you see my email from an hour ago? We got an offer! And then the lights came back on!
We sold Stargazer on a “partial,” meaning I wrote 100 pages and an outline of the rest – which got me a 2-book deal for Stargazer and my third novel (see the last question for more about that).
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I like a balanced reading diet, but I focus mostly on women’s fiction, whether that be historical or contemporary. I am not a mystery/suspense person, but I do like an occasional memoir and a seafaring biography.
What’s your favorite movie?
Grease? Dirty Dancing? Anything by John Hughes? Back to the Future? Hard to pick one
What is your favorite season?
Summer. Three out of the four of my immediate family members have July birthdays, and so does the dog. Plus, we live near the beach in RI and like to visit Nantucket!
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Since it’s July 3rd, there is usually a beach day involved, lobster tolls, and maybe fireworks
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Shrinking
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Pizza. (Is pizza a cuisine?! I guess Italian!)
What do you do when you have free time?
Do yoga, read, see friends, go shopping, see movies in a theater
What can readers expect from you next?
a CONTEMPORARY second-chance romance set on Nantucket!
Narrator: Erin Lin
From award-winning author Julie Gerstenblatt, an epic tale of adventure on the high seas, a spunky stowaway, and a family confronting the past to secure their future.
Massachusetts, 1851
Winifred Starbuck wants only one thing: to join her parents on their final merchant voyage—from Nantucket Island to bustling San Francisco, then across the glittering Pacific to the distant ports of China. Yet renowned trade captains Nell and Peter Starbuck have forbidden their daughter from coming aboard on the adventure of a lifetime. So Winnie does what any strong-willed eighteen-year-old would do: she stows away.
Once the ship sets sail, Winnie is plunged into turbulent waters, treachery, and the thrill of life on the high seas. As she drifts farther from shore, and closer to fabled Canton port, she uncovers a long-buried secret—one that reveals the truth behind her parents’ desperate fear. And as she continues to chart her own course, she’ll have to plumb the depths of her courage to take on a world far bigger—and more dangerous—than she ever imagined.
Fiction Family Life | Women's Fiction Historical [ Park Row, On Sale: June 9, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780778305897 / eISBN: 9780369774934 ]
Julie Gerstenblatt holds a doctorate in education in Curriculum and Instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, Grown&Flown, and Cognoscenti, among others. When not writing, Julie is a college essay coach, as well as a producer and on-air host for A Mighty Blaze. A native New Yorker, Julie now lives in coastal Rhode Island with her family and one very smart shichon poo. Daughters of Nantucket is her first novel.
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