Hello Beautiful

A Novel

By: Ann Napolitano

Narrated by: Maura Tierney

Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • MORE THAN ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! From the author of Dear Edward comes a “powerfully affecting” (People) family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

“Another tender tearjerker . . . Napolitano chronicles life’s highs and lows with aching precision.”—The Washington Post

ONE OF THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The Washington Post, Time, Vogue, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, New York Post, She Reads, Bookreporter

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

©2023 Ann Napolitano (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Radiant and brilliantly crafted . . . Napolitano’s [work] resists the easy satisfactions of the sentimental and never settles for simple answers to emotional predicaments faced by her characters.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“This sumptuous family saga is one of those rare novels whose singular characters are so beautifully rendered, it’s as if they’re your best friends, and you’re grateful to be in their orbit.”—Oprah Quarterly

“Hello Beautiful will make you weep buckets because you come to care so deeply about the characters and their fates. . . . [Napolitano] compels us to contemplate the complex tapestry of family love that can, despite grief and loss, still knit us together. She helps us see ourselves—and each other—whole.”—The Washington Post

Such a depressing,sad and dis functional family

I enjoyed Dear Edward but I didn’t like this one at all .Sorry Oprah ,I don’t agree with you on this one.This book is about 4 daughters and who they love .Julia the oldest daughter was so unlikeable.The mother Rose so unlikeable.Not only was so many of the characters unlikeable but it was a frustrating read .These once close sisters fractured and it went on for decades .Too much coldness .I know families are very dysfunctional but I don’t really want to spend my free time escaping into more dis function and coldness.The only very exciting part of the book was the last paragraph and then it ended .The narrator’s voice was distant and cold to match the mood of the book ,it made the audible worse .I love a good family drama story but this one was really sad from beginning to end.Depression,terrible parenting except for one .Suicide attempt,illness and death ,just too much.Too sad and too much of one really terrible sister and mother who were so selfish you will just hate them from the beginning of the book to the end .

Beautiful read

Hello Beautiful is a family saga filled with dysfunction, heartbreak, and tragedy. Readers go on an emotional roller coaster to the edge of despair that drives the family apart. The ending offered hope and a chance for redemption. I highly recommend this book.

Literally Addictive

I have no idea how she made these characters LEAP off of these, but that's exactly what happens before you even realize it
. read this book. you won't be sorry

Enjoyable read-sisters and life

Slow start introducing the characters, and then you find yourself pulled in and not able to stop reading. I loved the realistic family up and downs and found it full of deep emotions and wanting more.

Wonderful story

Hello Beautiful is a wonderful story about the strength within siblings and the man they embrace into their lives.

Wish it didn’t have to End

The characters were real and full of life. The story familiar in so many ways! Love, love, love Theo book!!

So good!

Books that tell the story of a family over many years are my favorite thing and this is one of the best I've read/listened to. There was more than one time when I found my eyes full of tears over something that had happened to the characters. Well done, Ms. Napolitano!

I've always been a fan of Maura Tierney, so I was pleased to see she narrated this book. It certainly could have been done with different readers for each character, but having Ms. Tierney read the entire book just worked. I wouldn't want it any other way.

HELLO Beautiful!!

The high paced world of drama/adventure/Life
that's goes with a family of 4 sisters. So Interesting to feel, sense, anticipate the daily lives of sisters. Beautifully written personal story.

Wanted more…

This was one of Oprah’s book club books so I wanted to read it. It sounded interesting especially when it was said it was hard to put down. I love those kinds of stories and I did breeze through it bc I wanted to see what happened at the end. The end disappointed me more than anything. It left me wanting more. More about what happened next. I found myself asking questions about the characters like Kent and his wife, Williams parents, how the relationship developed between William and his daughter or Rose and Cecilia and Izzy. What became of Julia? It’s like the story built up to a climax then fizzled out. So we all have to imagine our own endings. I’ve never been a big Maura Tierney fan even back to her ER days but I thought she did an ok job in trying to showcase each character’s being. A tough assignment. From babies to full grown men. She did ok. I don’t have sisters so the storyline was intriguing how they connected to each other. Julia did get on my nerves at times bc she was so set in her ways and wasn’t willing to budge from her stances until the end when it was nearly too late. And it ended up being to late for her daughter who never got the chance to see her aunt. That saddened me. Overall I enjoyed the book.

disappointed

I was hoping for something less predictable and less of the author explaining feelings and events.