The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Kelley, Pamela. Piping Plover Press, 2020.

The Restaurant takes place on the island on Nantucket, Massachusetts. Kelley also takes readers to Manhattan, where Jill works at a successful executive search firm. It is narrated in the third person and follows the perspective of three sisters: Mandy, the organized housewife who lives on the island; Emma, the quiet and artsy sister who is going through a divorce; and Jill, the successful businesswoman who runs a company in Manhattan. It is about their management of and adventures at Mimi’s Place, a restaurant on Nantucket that their grandmother left them after she died.

Section 1 of the novel features the death of Grams, the beloved grandmother of the sisters. On her deathbed, she tells them about a gift she plans to leave them: Mimi’s Place, her favorite restaurant. The girls are surprised to learn that Grams has been an owner of Mimi’s Place for the past forty-three years, ever since she won it in a bet. In her will, Grams’ leaves a surprising request for her granddaughters: they can either sell or take over Mimi’s Place, but before they do, all three must first work there for exactly one year. Emma, who is going through a divorce out in Arizona, flies out to begin work at Mimi’s Place. Jill and Mandy follow suit.

Section 2 begins with the girls getting used to work at the restaurant and managing their love lives. Jill has developed feelings for her co-worker and best friend of years, Billy. Emma is navigating her divorce and learning to work with Paul Taylor, her old high school love, at the restaurant. Mandy is dealing with her difficult and arrogant husband, Cory, who ignores her. The three girls learn that Mimi’s Place is barely breaking even financially and decide to brainstorm on how to improve the business.

Section 3 showcases the business acumen of the three girls and further develops their love lives, for both better and worse. Emma and Paul grow close, but take no romantic action. Mandy discovers that Cory has been cheating on her and requests a separation. Jill flirts with Billy, but her charms are unreciprocated, so she starts flirting with Mac, a restaurant consultant responsible for helping Mimi’s Place. Throughout it all, each sister finds new ways to contribute to the business.

Section 4 features Jill’s failed attempt to date Mac, who is a nice guy but with whom she has no chemistry. Mandy deals with Cory’s requests to reunite, coping in part by reading her grandmother’s old diary, which tells new secrets and sheds new light on her grandmother’s exciting and interesting life. Mimi’s Place continues to grow and the sisters find creative ways to boost business by introducing new lunch specials, starting a food blog, and planning a reopening party.

Section 5 reveals how Grams truly came to own Mimi’s Place: by winning it in a bet from her former love, a man named Jay. Mandy officially gets a divorce lawyer for her marriage with Cory, and the novel ends with the sisters celebrating her divorce day. Jill and Billy decide that they love each other and get engaged. Paul, after waiting patiently for Emma to see him in a romantic light, finally takes initiative and the two quickly fall in love, deciding to move in together by the end of the novel. Each sister has significantly contributed to the new booming business and Mimi’s Place, and they decide to keep managing it, not to sell.