SUNNY HOSTIN - Dare to DREAM BIG

The View cohost talks about her new novel and the secrets of her successful life

- Katie Bruno

Since she was a child, The View co-host Sunny Hostin has always loved to write. “I’ve journaled since I was young, before it was a thing. I would also make up stories because I loved the process of writing,” she tells Closer. Although Sunny began her career as a lawyer and federal prosecutor, her love of storytelling led her to move into broadcasting. She became a permanent co-host on The View in 2019. “I definitely didn’t imagine working with Whoopi Goldberg every day,” she says. Sunny, 54, never gave up putting pen to paper. In early May, her second novel, Summer on Sag Harbor, was released — just in time for beach season. “There is a lot of fun in this book — and sex scenes! Joy Behar told me that a beach read always has to have good sex,” says Sunny. “It’s also historical fiction. I hope people will enjoy that they are learning about history in a fun way.”

Summer on Sag Harbor is a sequel to your first novel, Summer on the Bluffs.

I planned it as a trilogy and a love letter to the places that I summer in. They are generally African-American communities that no one really knew about. [The settings are ] very private, very exclusive and very historic. There’s a lot of history, which I learned from the people who have lived there for generations.

Does this book pick up where the first one left off?

I would say that it begins with Olivia Jones starting this new life in Sag Harbor. Readers of Summer on the Bluffs