book review on hello beautiful

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Oprah’s pick, ‘Hello Beautiful,’ is a tender tearjerker

It’s easy to see why ann napolitano’s novel was chosen: like her previous book, “dear edward,” this one chronicles life’s highs and lows with precision.

In her piercingly tender new novel, “ Hello Beautiful , ” best-selling author Ann Napolitano catalogues the multitudes of love and hurt that families contain, and lays bare their powers to both damage and heal. If that description echoes the poetry of Walt Whitman, whose work Napolitano quotes in her epigraph, it also reflects her own expansive literary spirit — a bracing yet restorative sensibility that managed to render cathartic the seemingly unbearable pain embedded in her previous book, “ Dear Edward . ” Now being dramatized on Apple TV Plus, that story recounts the physical and psychological recovery of the 12-year-old title character who boards a jetliner with his family and becomes the flight’s sole survivor.

In ‘Dear Edward,’ the world’s most famous orphan finds something to live for

Like its predecessor, “Hello Beautiful” will make you weep buckets because you come to care so deeply about the characters and their fates. At its center is another ailing soul, the emotionally hobbled William Waters. He grows up with no memory of his sister, Caroline, a lovable redhead who died at age 3 when he was a mere 6 days old. Her absence engulfs his early years, her death having left his parents emotionally frozen and unable, or unwilling, to forge even a cursory connection with their remaining child.

Overlooked and neglected at home, William’s only solace becomes his love of basketball. The sole place he feels comfortable is a court with a hoop, and his social contacts are mostly limited to his school teammates, who watch with amazement as he reaches the towering height of 6-foot-7. When the sports scholarship he earns to Northwestern University allows him to leave his lonely home for the Chicago area, his parents bid him farewell, seeming not to care whether they ever see him again.

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He arrives on campus insecure, awkward and lost. He’s as little able to comprehend the inner hollowness and guilt he has struggled with for as long as he can remember as he is to imagine a future beyond the basketball court. For a time, his spot on the varsity team’s starting lineup keeps him afloat. So does a fiancee who tows him along without his realizing that their destinations aren’t necessarily compatible. But by the time a severe knee injury sidelines him, he has already begun to sink. After playing the game he knew by the rules and routines that life had presented him, he finds that he’s drowning. There is no game left for him to play, no purpose in trying to pivot on his wounded knee and search for something else.

Napolitano charts his descent with aching precision. She also puts in place two disparate teams to help him: a stolid group of basketball jocks, captained by Kent and Arash, who become his true brothers; and the quirky Padavano sisters, who grow into his family.

He meets Julia, the oldest sister, in a college history class, and she soon introduces him to her three siblings. At first, he finds them indistinguishable, each sporting the same unruly curly hair, and in person, as in old photos, looking “deeply similar, like they were four different versions of the same person.”

Only on closer acquaintance does William begin to discern their differences. Charming and energetic, Julia is also bossy, controlling and ambitious. Sylvie is younger than Julia by 10 months and is her closest confidante, but she is contrastingly soft-spoken, bookish (she works at the local library to put herself through college) and romantic, dreaming of a perfect soul mate even as she makes out with random boys in the library stacks. The two youngest siblings are decidedly nonidentical twins: Cecilia, a budding artist and mural painter who becomes a single mother at 17, and the nurturing Emeline, who “kept her hands free in order to be helpful or to pick up and soothe a neighborhood child.”

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Over the course of three decades, the siblings will mature and change, and their seemingly solid sisterhood will be repeatedly challenged. Yet they always remain recognizable, their flaws and limits as deeply rooted as their capacity for kindness and compassion. Even so, plot coincidences can pile up along the way, and the Padavanos themselves comment on the soap-opera twists that discomfort and reconfigure their relationships. Countering that, Napolitano incorporates knowledgeable interludes about basketball history and strategy throughout her novel.

Napolitano emphasizes the sisters’ fondness for likening themselves to the four heroines of Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women . ” But the siblings put me more in mind of the unconventional families Anne Tyler often portrays in her novels. Like Tyler’s characters, who can sometimes hardly bear to go beyond the comfort zone of their Baltimore neighborhood, the Padavanos stay mostly in Pilsen, their beloved working-class corner of Chicago. Both novelists also share a fondness for oddball details, such as mother Rose Padavano’s idiosyncratic gardening gear, which consists of a baseball catcher’s uniform and a flamboyant sombrero. Whitman’s encompassing vision of life and death also wafts through the novel, courtesy of favorite lines quoted by Rose’s ne’er-do-well husband, Charlie.

But Napolitano’s voice is her own. Like her deeply felt characters, she 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.

Diane Cole is the author of the memoir “ After Great Pain: A New Life Emerges .”

Hello Beautiful

By Ann Napolitano

Dial. 400 pp. $28

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HELLO BEAUTIFUL

by Ann Napolitano ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Napolitano’s characters can break your heart as they work to mend their own.

Who do we deserve to love and be loved by?

Drawn into the orbit of a tightknit family upon falling for Julia, the eldest of the four Padavano sisters, William Waters experiences the kind of family solidarity, affection, and sense of belonging he never had with his own dysfunctional parents. William developed an (initially) effective coping strategy during his lonely childhood and devotes his energies toward succeeding in the only place he feels comfortable: the basketball court. College sweethearts, Julia and William marry and begin a life together directed mostly by Julia’s wishes for stability and status; the plan and relationship are derailed by William’s gradual decline into a crippling depression. Julia and William divorce, and William distances himself from their infant daughter, Alice, too. Relationships between and among William and all of the Padavanos rupture and realign over the ensuing decades as Napolitano spins a saga of familial love, deception, and hope for healing while adeptly highlighting each family member’s unique position in the narrative. Each of the Padavano girls is finely described—there's Julia, who's straightforward and driven; Sylvie, dreamy and romantic; and twins Cecelia (artistic) and Emeline (the sensitive moral compass of the group)—and it is entirely plausible that the girls envision themselves from time to time as the March sisters from Little Women . (Rounding out that parallel is the presence of a dreamy, poetic father and a hardworking, long-suffering mother.) More subtly, the influence of Walt Whitman is felt throughout the book, from epigraph to end, as characters come to terms with their roles in an evolving universe. As in Napolitano’s recent Dear Edward (2020), heartbreaking circumstances shatter the lives of relatable human characters who are unprepared for the task of building a meaningful life.

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 9780593243722

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Dial Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2023

LITERARY FICTION | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION

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SEEN & HEARD

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

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by Kristin Hannah

PERSPECTIVES

BOOK TO SCREEN

by Percival Everett ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2024

One of the noblest characters in American literature gets a novel worthy of him.

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as told from the perspective of a more resourceful and contemplative Jim than the one you remember.

This isn’t the first novel to reimagine Twain’s 1885 masterpiece, but the audacious and prolific Everett dives into the very heart of Twain’s epochal odyssey, shifting the central viewpoint from that of the unschooled, often credulous, but basically good-hearted Huck to the more enigmatic and heroic Jim, the Black slave with whom the boy escapes via raft on the Mississippi River. As in the original, the threat of Jim’s being sold “down the river” and separated from his wife and daughter compels him to run away while figuring out what to do next. He's soon joined by Huck, who has faked his own death to get away from an abusive father, ramping up Jim’s panic. “Huck was supposedly murdered and I’d just run away,” Jim thinks. “Who did I think they would suspect of the heinous crime?” That Jim can, as he puts it, “[do] the math” on his predicament suggests how different Everett’s version is from Twain’s. First and foremost, there's the matter of the Black dialect Twain used to depict the speech of Jim and other Black characters—which, for many contemporary readers, hinders their enjoyment of his novel. In Everett’s telling, the dialect is a put-on, a manner of concealment, and a tactic for survival. “White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them,” Jim explains. He also discloses that, in violation of custom and law, he learned to read the books in Judge Thatcher’s library, including Voltaire and John Locke, both of whom, in dreams and delirium, Jim finds himself debating about human rights and his own humanity. With and without Huck, Jim undergoes dangerous tribulations and hairbreadth escapes in an antebellum wilderness that’s much grimmer and bloodier than Twain’s. There’s also a revelation toward the end that, however stunning to devoted readers of the original, makes perfect sense.

Pub Date: March 19, 2024

ISBN: 9780385550369

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024

LITERARY FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

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by Percival Everett

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Ann Napolitano on her new novel 'Hello Beautiful'

Scott Simon

Lennon Sherburne

Estrangement and reconciliation in an Italian-American family: Ann Napolitano's new novel, "Hello Beautiful," is about loving each other just as we are. NPR's Scott Simon talks to her about it.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

William Waters finds a missing piece of life when he meets Julia Padavano in college and marries into a family of four sisters. He'd grown up feeling that his parents had only one child, and, in Ann Napolitano's memorable phrase, it wasn't him. The embrace of sisters, often comforting, sometimes stifling, forgiving, forgetting and going on is at the heart of her new novel, "Hello Beautiful." Ann Napolitano, author of the bestseller "Dear Edward," which is now an Apple Plus series, joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

ANN NAPOLITANO: Thank you so much for having me.

SIMON: Tell us about William. He has to grow up with a darkness, doesn't he?

NAPOLITANO: Yes. His 3-year-old sister dies the same week that he is born. And his parents are so heartbroken that when they look at him, they only feel their own pain, so they really stop looking at him. And he has very little attention and love for the rest of his childhood.

SIMON: He does eventually find achievement and recognition in basketball. He winds up going to Northwestern, where he meets Julia. I will note the Wildcats are better than usual this year, but they're not a traditional basketball powerhouse. Let's put it that way. Does knowing Julia give him another kind of recognition too?

NAPOLITANO: Yes. She is a powerful, ambitious, self-directed, vibrant young woman, and she sort of takes him in hand and tells him what to do because she has strong aspirations for her own life. She has an idea of the husband that she wants to be married to. And he fits the mold, and he's also very moldable. And he's very happy to be told what to do, so it works out well initially for both of them.

SIMON: And tell us about her sisters. You have Sylvie and then the twins, Cecelia and Emeline.

NAPOLITANO: Yes. So Sylvie is only 10 months younger than Julia, and she is a voracious reader, and she works in the local library, putting herself through college. And she is a dreamer. She has this dream that she's going to find the great love affair, a sort of once-in-a-generation love story. And that is her dream. And Emeline and Cecelia are a little bit younger, and they are twins. And Cecelia is an artist, and Emeline is a nurturer. She takes care of everybody.

SIMON: How challenging is it to write four characters who appear again and again and make them different enough to tell apart, but also enough alike to be sisters?

NAPOLITANO: Well, that's part of what fascinates me about sisters. When I was growing up, my best friend, Leah (ph) - her mother had six sisters that would come in and out of the house all the time, and they had slightly different versions of the same face, and they seemed more themselves when they're in the same room together than they did when they were separated. And that was completely fascinating to me. So it was really, like, an exciting and fun challenge to create sisters who were that close but also very strongly rooted in their own selves. I think that's a challenging relationship because you're so close and so strong-willed and so different, but it can be, like, the deepest and most rewarding of relationships, you know, unless you're challenged, which unfortunately - or fortunately - the sisters are challenged.

SIMON: And it's perfectly OK if readers detect a debt to "Little Women" in your novel.

NAPOLITANO: It is. I actually didn't intend that. It was only once I'd created - or met - the sisters, and they were having a conversation in the scene that I was writing about which March sister they were most like. And I was like, oh, yes, of course. Like, it's four sisters, just like the March girls. And Laurie in "Little Women" is a character from the outside who peers into the March family window and wants to be in there. And so does William for the Padavano sisters.

SIMON: Yeah. William and Julia, without giving away too much of the story, have a daughter, Alice, and then a darkness begins to envelop William. Or has it always been there?

NAPOLITANO: I think it had always been there. I think basketball kept it at bay. And he, you know, reaches the end of his basketball career, and it sort of begins to sink him. And he enters adulthood with its, you know, myriad responsibilities and calls upon him to sort of stand up straighter. And he finds that he's unable to.

SIMON: Yeah. How does William begin to treat his daughter?

NAPOLITANO: I think he has struggles to look at his daughter, in a similar way that his parents struggled to look at him. I think often the sort of traumas that afflict us in our youth end up playing out in various ways as we grow up, even though it's the last thing that we want to have happen. And William wants nothing but the best for his daughter, but he has a lot of fear at the same time.

SIMON: Do we inherit only the good stuff?

NAPOLITANO: No.

SIMON: Yeah.

NAPOLITANO: Unfortunately not. I think the fault lines that run through our parents often run into us, even if we weren't alive when those fault lines were created. And they become part of our DNA and our behaviors. Even if we're trying as hard as we can to run away from them, they are, in that instance, still shaping our lives. The same thing happens with the Padavano family. Rose, the mother of the four girls, got pregnant before she was married, which ended up being, you know, a wonderful thing for their family, but she does not want that for her girls. And she ends up, you know, pushing them almost to the brink. So what she sees as her failures she almost makes happen again in the next generation too.

SIMON: How much of the - may I ask? - family dynamics do you plot out, say, on index cards, and how much come to you in the process of writing?

NAPOLITANO: The first year, while I'm thinking about the book, I don't let myself write, and I only think and plan and research and take notes. But still, there's probably only about five things that I know are going to happen when I start writing the book. The rest of it, I discover.

SIMON: Help us understand what that feels like.

NAPOLITANO: Well, to me, it's kind of like being a reader. It is an act of discovery. When the book starts, William is this lonely, sad, brokenhearted little boy. And I want to find out if he can be OK after the childhood that he had. And I really wasn't sure. So I had to walk through line after line, scene after scene, interaction after interaction and be like, is this true? Like, is this how it would feel? And slowly that charts his course through the story and through the novel. And I'm right there with him, hoping that we're going to get to a place where he's all right but not sure whether that is going to be true or not. And that's part of the tension for me and keeps me writing and keeps me anxious.

SIMON: Forgive me for not knowing, but do you have sisters, brothers?

NAPOLITANO: Yeah, I have a sister, a brother and a half sister.

SIMON: No matter what issues might wind up dividing siblings, is there a - is there still a special closeness that just is in no other way emulated?

NAPOLITANO: Yes. I think because you grow up, obviously, from the very beginning and you know each other inside and out and you know all of each other's embarrassing secrets and worst moments and you know each other at each stage of your lives, there's just a - that's like a rooting system that runs all the way down into the earth. And so even if you try to walk away from each other, I think there's always that possibility and even encouragement to walk back because the roots don't go away.

SIMON: Ann Napolitano - her novel, "Hello, Beautiful" - thank you so much for being with us.

NAPOLITANO: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Editorial note: I received a copy of Hello Beautiful in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a captivating examination of family, love and forgiveness.

I feel Ann Napolitano is one of the best literary fiction writers out there today. Her novels are so moving, vivid and truly capture the essence of humanity. She writes about extremely tough subject matters in such a delicate but quite impactful way. I’m such a fan of hers, which is one reason why I selected Hello Beautifu l as a must-read book club pick for 2023 .

For instance, if you haven’t read Dear Edward (and the series is now out on Apple TV+), I highly recommend it. I was hesitant at first—reading about the sole survivor of a plane crash seemed really depressing. And it is really sad. But again, it’s handled with care and it’s very moving.

It’s interesting to think that I read Dear Edward exactly three years ago in 2020 as we were dealing with the start of a pandemic. While neither book features a pandemic, both cover broken people, heartbreaking loss and family love. These are the kind of stories that remind me you of what’s important in life.

On the surface, Hello Beautiful is a smaller scale story focusing on a close-knit group of sisters. It’s a homage to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women , yet the story very much stands on its own. There’s a lot of depth and covers a wide range of themes. I see why Oprah selected it for her 100th book club selection. This is one of those novels that is absolutely a perfect fit for book clubs.

What’s the Story About

Hello Beautiful centers around the Padavano family and specifically, on the four sisters: Julia, the go-getter of the family; Sylvie, the bookish dreamer; Cecelia, the free-spirited artist; and Emeline, the compassionate nurturer. The sisters are as close as they can be and always have each other’s backs.

Everything changes when Julia meets William Walters, a shy and broken man with a tragic past. William is immediately taken with Julia’s vibrance and is especially happy to be welcomed into a new family.

However, William’s past eventually resurfaces. And as a result, the sisters’ seemingly unbreakable bond is broken.

Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Four Sisters

Little Women is the gold standard for stories about sisters. Sometimes homages to literary classics miss the mark or rely too much on the original source material that they don’t feel authentic.

But in the case of Hello Beautiful , Ann Napolitano pays tribute to the classic while also ensuring the story stands on its own. The sisters within Hello Beautiful are also fans of Little Women and even compare themselves to the sisters of the story, which I thought was a nice touch.

I was so fascinated by the different dynamics of the four sisters, especially that of Julia and Sylvie. Those two characters, along with William, are the main focus of the story. If I have one criticism, it’s that I would have liked a little more from Cecelia and Emeline. While they are in the story, they do take a backseat and I think they could have been developed more.

Everything changes when William comes to the picture. Who would expect such a quiet, unassuming man to have such an impact? But he does.

William’s backstory is quite sad—he was unloved as a child. His parents failed him. They couldn’t get past their own grief of losing William’s older sister. There’s a vivid description of William as a child coughing in a closet so he wouldn’t bother his parents with an illness as he believed it would have reminded them of what they lost.

It’s so sad for a child to have to think like that and feel so alone. I couldn’t get over the cruelty of his parents and it does have such a lasting impact on him. He’s a very complex character. You’ll feel sympathetic but he also makes some choices that are quite cold. And the reason behind is apparent but it doesn’t change the outcome.

Still, William grows quite a bit in the novel and I really liked his character arc overall.

This is one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time. There are certain stories that truly get to you and stay with you for a long time. It’s a beautiful story about family bond and love.

If you’re looking for a well-done literary fiction story, this is the one for you. An ideal book for book clubs as there is a ton to discuss, analyze and even debate about. All the stars for Hello Beautiful .

Check out my book club questions here .

Friday 15th of September 2023

Hello Beautiful should never have been published. The writing is the worst I can ever remember of any book I have ever read. This book would be an excellent example for anyone teaching writing of how not to write. It is all “tell” and no “show” and is so repetitious, I wonder why the author doesn’t realize that saying something once is informative, saying it 90 times is absurd. It is ridiculously predictable and the characters absurdly shallow (although Neapolitan spends a lot of time repetitively “telling” readers just how deep they are. I read this for a book club and I feel cheated of money, time and sanity.

Friday 8th of March 2024

@Jan Hale, I totally agree with you!

Judy Hubbard

Monday 15th of January 2024

I meant for not seeing any depth.

@Ben Morcos, So glad I'm not the only one. I was blaming myself for seeing any depth in it whatsoever.

Monday 23rd of October 2023

@Jan Hale (also @Becky) thank you, exactly, you nailed it. it's shocking to me that anyone didn't find this book unbelievably simple, meant for unsophisticated readers, and just plain bad.

Tuesday 6th of June 2023

I wished the scene where Sylvie kisses William had been more dramatized.

Michele Paynter

Sunday 21st of May 2023

I am absolutely in awe of Ann Napolitano's book, HELLO BEAUTIFUL. I suggested this book recently for my book club choice and I am so glad that I did. Reading this poignant story of a family torn by loss, tragedy, but also of great familial love gave me pause. Between the tears and reflections of my own family - I couldn't put the book down. I'm certain that I will reread this fabulous book as well as recommending it to other book enthusiasts. A tour de force to be sure!

Tuesday 11th of April 2023

I'm confused. I thought this was the worst book I've ever read. It wasn't fluid and left out a lot regarding the parents that raised this group. Both Rose and Williams parents were flat...........why? I had a hard time staying engaged, and felt it fell way short of the raving reviews.

@Becky, I felt the same way! Such unrealistic and downright ignorant details throughout. I may be picky, but I was so disappointed on so many levels. Really the author shows her stupidity without researching enough. Simple details like cashing an old check—it is void after six months! A professor having all kinds of clients in Manhattan—maybe an adjunct economist could but just a weirdly unbelievable detail. To top it off, not one single character was fully developed. She would give a glimpse of a seriously mentally or disfunctional person and really never delve into specifics!

Judy Ransom

@Becky, I just finished the book and felt the same way as you. After all the glowing reviews, I wondered what was wrong with me that I could barely finish it. Sort of makes me sad.

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Book Review

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Title: Hello Beautiful

Author: Ann Napolitano

Publisher: The Dial Press

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Romance

First Publication: 2023

Language:  English

Book Summary: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Meet the Padvano girls. Best friends and sisters, they are thought of as inseparable by everyone in their close-knit Chicago neighbourhood . Julia, the eldest, is the “rocket” of the family – she always has a destination in mind and clear plans for how to get there. Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a life for herself other than the expected path of wife and mother. Cecelia and Emmeline, the twins, are the artist and the caregiver. From childhood, the four sisters complete each other, expecting that their family will always be intact.

When Julia falls in love with William Walters, a history student and college sports star, she’s delighted by the way her plans for adulthood are coming together. A husband, a house, a family. But when darkness from William’s past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who steps in to help. Suddenly, things shift. Dynamics and relationships, priorities and secrets – everything that was once a given no longer is.

Rich and vivid, heartbreaking and heart-mending,  Hello Beautiful  captures the joy, tragedy, trust, and betrayal to ask: what does it mean to be a family? And once shattered, can it be pieced back together?

Book Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Ann Napolitano’s latest novel Hello Beautiful is a poignant and emotionally complex family drama that explores the relationships between four sisters and the ripple effects of trauma across generations. Set between the 1960s and the early 2000s, the novel follows the Padavano sisters – Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline – as they navigate love, loss, motherhood, and their own identities and desires against the backdrop of pivotal historical moments.

The novel opens in 1960 with the brief life and tragic death of William Water’s older sister, Caroline. Her passing casts a permanent shadow over the Waters family that William grapple with over the ensuing decades. William grew up as an only child after his sister Caroline died when he was only a few days old. His parents, particularly his father, became distant after losing Caroline. William mostly kept to himself, finding solace in basketball which he was talented at from a young age. He graduated high school and earned a basketball scholarship to Northwestern.

The protagonists of the novel are the oldest Padavano sisters, Julia and Sylvie. Julia is ambitious, determined, and driven. She plans her life down to every detail and sees the world in straightforward causal relationships, believing she can control outcomes through sheer willpower. Sylvie, in contrast, is a dreamer and a romantic, more interested in losing herself in fiction than in worldly ambition.

The core relationships that structure the narrative are between the sisters themselves, with their mother Rose, and with the men that enter their lives. While the sisters share an unbreakable bond, their disparate personalities also lead to misunderstandings and tensions. Rose is a complicated maternal figure, by turns possessive and distant. The men – Charlie, William, and to a lesser extent Kent – disrupt and reshape the sisterly unit in different ways.

After a brief courtship, Julia marries William, envisioning him as the upstanding husband who will give her the secure middle-class future she desires. Their marriage begins auspiciously, but cracks soon emerge. William struggles with severe depression and a sense of purposelessness, while Julia refuses to see the depths of his unhappiness, pushing him to meet her expectations. William eventually attempts suicide, setting off a chain of events that alters the contours of the sisters’ relationships irrevocably.

The novel alternates between the perspectives of Julia and Sylvie, exposing both women’s hopes, flaws, and deepest wounds. Julia initially comes across as controlling and superficial, obsessed with appearances and social climbing. However, as the narrative gives insight into her psyche, a different picture emerges. Abandoned by her mother, Julia is profoundly insecure about her self-worth and seeks desperately to prove herself through external validation and rigidly constructed order. Her need for control masks a terror of chaos.

Sylvie, who appears flighty and romantic to Julia, harbors her own darkness. She conducts a series of passionless affairs as she waits to meet her one true love. But she also grapples with difficult questions about the nature of fulfillment and belonging. Sylvie’s interiority reveals a thoughtful, sensitive soul ill-suited to the strictures of conventional femininity.

Napolitano excels at portraying the messy complexities of sisterhood – the steadfast loyalty as well as the jealousies, the compatibilities and profound differences. Julia and Sylvie’s perspectives interweave to form a nuanced portrait of a lifelong relationship continually shaped by evolving personalities, emotional needs, and desires.

At times, the novel’s pace suffers due to drawn-out sections of excessive rumination. However, the characters are vividly rendered and emotionally compelling enough to maintain engagement. Napolitano perceptively sketches the social and cultural forces that circumscribe the sisters’ choices, from Julia’s thwarted professional ambitions to the stigma around Cecelia’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

The novel comes full circle with a moving denouement revolving around the sisters’ reconciliation with their mother. Napolitano avoids easy resolutions, instead leaving wounds partially healed with scars still visible. The bittersweet ending fittingly reflects her vision of sisterhood as a complex tapestry woven of memories, trauma, sacrifice, understanding, and love.

Ultimately, Hello Beautiful is a thoughtful exploration of the eternal dance between freedom and belonging. Julia and Sylvie, in very different ways, struggle to balance responsibility to family with individual identity and desire. Napolitano compassionately traces how their conflicted yearnings shape choices with echoing repercussions.

Without downplaying the centrality of sisterly and maternal bonds, the novel also insightfully examines Julia and Sylvie’s relationships with the key men in their lives. Their respective marriages reveal societal gendered expectations around marriage and femininity. William’s descent into suicidal depression evocatively captures the struggle with oppressive male gender norms.

On the whole, Hello Beautiful stands out for its poignant emotional resonance and textured character psychology. The 1970s suburban Chicago setting proves an immersive backdrop to delve into the complex interior lives of its heroines. Napolitano’s quietly perceptive prose illuminates intergenerational trauma’s subtle but indelible fingerprint on identity. An impactful family saga guaranteed to linger in the mind long after the final page.

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Hello Beautiful

by Ann Napolitano

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, hello beautiful.

The New York Times bestselling author of DEAR EDWARD returns with HELLO BEAUTIFUL. This triumphant, emotionally resonant story is about the transformative power of love, and the beauty and growth that come with meeting others as we are while accepting them the same way.

The Padavano girls --- Julia, Sylvie, and twins Cecelia and Emeline --- have long considered themselves Italian American versions of Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters. They are woven into the fabric of each other’s lives, and they are so close that they have been able to identify, champion and celebrate the strongest traits of one another and use them to uplift the entire group. So when eldest sister Julia --- the spitting image of her driven, focused and critical mother, Rose --- finds a quiet, methodical and handsome man to settle down with in college, the girls are thrilled. As the first one of them to fall in love and add to their family unit, Julia gives the others hope in the promise that all will work out as they have always dreamed. Not only has she softened around the edges, she seems to have broken the curse of her own mother’s marriage to a pleasant and loving, but feckless and irresponsible man.

"HELLO BEAUTIFUL is a sweeping, perceptive and beautifully rendered family saga that could only be achieved by an author at the height of her literary powers.... Book clubs will no doubt find much to reflect on, discuss and deepen their connections with in this generous, healing novel."

Julia’s romance may not be the stuff of classics, but in William Waters she has found her ideal complement. A quiet but smart man with no serious ambitions (though he could do anything if he sets his mind to it), William is the perfect outlet for Julia’s need for control and ability to problem-solve. Within moments of meeting him, she has their wedding, careers, promotions and old age planned and sorted for them. Accommodating, polite William, who still cannot believe his luck in catching the eye of a gorgeous, brilliant girl, is more than happy to follow her lead. Until his own past rears its ugly head.

As a child, William lived for exactly six days as a younger brother until his three-year-old sister, Caroline, died suddenly in her crib. With his birth seeming to announce the painful end to his parents’ joy, William is left neglected and alone. His mother and father fed, clothed and supported him, but he never knew love or affection as a child --- at least not until he found basketball. Taking comfort in his ability to practice alone, William soon discovered a real talent and joined his school’s team, finding camaraderie and community in the sport but also a purpose. This necessary but unfulfilling coping mechanism guided him through college applications and acceptances. When he shook his father’s hand before leaving for college, he knew he would never see his dysfunctional folks again. Fortunately, he found a new family in Julia and her boisterous, loving home full of whimsical, serious and artistic girls, not to mention her parents, who quickly took him in as one of their own.

For the first quarter of HELLO BEAUTIFUL, Julia and William’s romance takes center stage. All seems perfect, almost alarmingly so. Were this novel written by a less accomplished author, their story alone might be enough. But this is an Ann Napolitano production, and therefore the narrative is so much richer and more complex. When Cecelia announces that she is pregnant at 17 and Julia quickly forces William to impregnate her as well, the births of their daughters do the same thing that William’s birth did for his family: they cause the Padavanos to implode. And when tragedy strikes them in a devastating, shocking blow, the entire clan unravels. Each is left to contemplate what role they really play in the family…and who they are alone, without the others to define them.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL is a sweeping, perceptive and beautifully rendered family saga that could only be achieved by an author at the height of her literary powers. At first glance an homage to LITTLE WOMEN, the book breathes new life into the classic by writing the sisters as individual, separate women: flawed, beautiful, demanding, loving and full of life. Each is wonderfully described, with Napolitano first employing stereotypes --- the bossy one, the bookish one, the artsy one, the loving one --- and then building strong, finely crafted and expertly nuanced personalities on these foundations.

But more than creating these vivid, relatable characters, Napolitano takes great care --- never wasting or misusing a word --- to examine their unique positions within the family and their own interpersonal dynamics. She often lays out a scene from one perspective and then goes back only a few hours or so from the point of view of another to analyze all of the emotions, pulls and draws, and painful decisions that go into every encounter: marriage, childbirth, sibling arguments, love, betrayal and coming of age. As the girls --- and William, my favorite character in perhaps all of Napolitano’s works --- transform and grow, Napolitano is constantly delivering uplifting, transcendent observations on life, love and what makes every encounter meaningful. The result is so beautiful that it is almost impossible to describe, an instant classic that will find a home with any reader.

An immersive work of fiction that is woven through with transformative, powerful grief, HELLO BEAUTIFUL is a soaring portrait of love. Perfect for readers of ASK AGAIN, YES, THE DEARLY BELOVED and THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD, it is sure to make many of this year’s “Best Of” lists. Book clubs will no doubt find much to reflect on, discuss and deepen their connections with in this generous, healing novel.

Reviewed by Rebecca Munro on March 17, 2023

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

• Publication Date: March 14, 2023
• Genres: Fiction , Women's Fiction
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: The Dial Press
• ISBN-10: 0593243730
• ISBN-13: 9780593243732

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Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

• Publication Date: March 14, 2023
• Genres: Fiction , Women's Fiction
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: The Dial Press
• ISBN-10: 0593243730
• ISBN-13: 9780593243732
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Hello Beautiful: Summary and Character Guide

By: Author Luka

Posted on Last updated: March 31, 2024

Categories Book Summary , Character Analysis

This post may contain affiliate links. Read more here .

Hello Beautiful is the fourth novel by American author Ann Napolitano. It quickly became a bestseller on the New York Times list and earned the honor of being selected for Oprah’s Book Club.

Critics and readers have praised the book for paying tribute to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

In this guide we will go through the complete summary and character analysis of this novel! I’ve also attached a link to my personal review, and book club discussion guide.

Summary | Characters

Book Review | Book Club Questions

Hello Beautiful Summary

The story begins with the birth of a boy named William Waters in 1960. Unfortunately, his sister dies shortly after, leaving his parents very sad and distant. Because of this, William grows up feeling lonely and sad. He finds comfort in playing basketball, which helps him connect with others without having to talk about his feelings.

After finishing high school, he goes to Northwestern University on a sports scholarship. There, he meets a lively and ambitious girl named Julia Padavano, who becomes his girlfriend. Julia has three sisters—Sylvie, who loves books; Cecelia, who is artistic; and Emeline, who is caring. Julia’s parents, Charlie and Rose, are very different from each other.

William’s life becomes closely connected to the Padavano family, and eventually, he and Julia get engaged. Julia’s mom, Rose, even suggests he call her “mom.”

However, things get complicated when William injures his knee badly during a basketball game. Because of a previous injury, he needs many surgeries and can’t play basketball anymore. This leads to another period of sadness and confusion for William.

He doesn’t know who he is or what he should do. In this uncertain time, he looks to Julia for guidance. She decides that he should become a history professor, and William agrees, enrolling in Northwestern’s graduate history program.

Julia’s clear plans for their future take an unexpected turn when her younger sister, Cecelia, who is still in high school, becomes pregnant and decides to raise the baby on her own. Julia’s mom, Rose, who is a devout Catholic, disapproves of Cecelia’s choice and kicks her out of their home. In an attempt to bring their family back together, Julia decides to have a baby herself, even though William is unsure about becoming a parent.

Unfortunately, things start falling apart quickly. Cecelia has her baby, Izzy, and shortly after, Charlie, Julia’s dad, passes away. Rose forces Sylvie, Julia’s remaining sister, to leave the house and announces that she’s moving to Florida. Julia and William’s marriage starts to struggle once their own baby, Alice, arrives, and Julia is no longer closely involved in William’s daily life.

Sylvie, now without a home, starts staying with Julia and William. Concerned about William, Julia asks Sylvie to read a manuscript he’s been secretly working on. Though not a complete book, Sylvie sees that it’s a deeply personal project where William expresses uncertainty about who he is and what he’s meant to do. Sylvie begins to understand William’s struggles in a new way.

As William sinks deeper into his depression, he accidentally misses classes after falling asleep on a bench. Feeling like his life is fake, he stops going to classes altogether without telling Julia.

For a week, he pretends everything is normal, but when Julia discovers the truth, he explains that he’s afraid he’ll only bring pain to her and Alice. He decides to leave, wandering the streets of Chicago for a long time before attempting to drown himself in Lake Michigan.

Julia tells Sylvie that William has left, and Sylvie, worried about William’s troubled state, searches for him all night with his friends. The next day, she finds him being pulled out of Lake Michigan. To stay close to him, Sylvie pretends to be William’s wife in the ambulance.

She stays with him throughout his time in the hospital and recovery. As they spend more time together, Sylvie starts falling in love with William. Initially, William is hesitant, thinking he’ll only bring her pain, but Sylvie persists, and they eventually deeply fall in love.

Worried about how William’s mental health might affect their daughter, Julia is relieved when he agrees to a divorce and gives up his parental rights. Julia moves to New York City for work, creating a life separate from her family and raising Alice on her own.

When she learns about William and Sylvie’s relationship, she feels hurt and cuts ties with Sylvie, limiting the rest of the family’s contact with her. As Alice grows up, she knows very little about her family, and Julia tells her that her father has passed away.

For many years, the rest of the Padavano family stays close in Chicago. Cecelia and Emeline live in neighboring homes, sharing the responsibility of raising Izzy together. With the support of his friends, William discovers he can still have a career in basketball and lands a job as a physical therapist with the Chicago Bulls. Julia is content in New York City, but she realizes she misses being part of her sisters’ lives. Alice, their daughter, grows into a careful teenager, hesitant to ask her mom questions about their family.

Several decades later, Sylvie receives a devastating diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor. William informs Julia, who, despite her initial reluctance, is drawn back to Chicago by her strong bond with Sylvie. The sisters reconcile before Sylvie’s passing. This reconciliation also prompts Julia to finally share the truth about William and the Padavanos with her daughter.

The novel concludes with Alice traveling to Chicago to meet the family she never knew she had. William, still grieving Sylvie’s death, opens his heart to Alice, leading to a final reconciliation between them the day after Sylvie’s passing.

Hello Beautiful Characters

William waters.

William Waters is at the heart of the Hello Beautiful story, and the novel revolves around his life journey. The book starts and ends with him, showcasing his transformation from a lonely boy to a man who learns to embrace his vulnerabilities and share love.

William, a 6’7” man from Boston, faced a tough upbringing. His parents, emotionally distant after the death of their three-year-old daughter on the same day as William’s birth, struggled to connect with him. This emotional neglect during his childhood led to mental health challenges in adulthood. Feeling uncertain about his identity, William battled loneliness and depression throughout his life.

Basketball became William’s refuge. Discovering the sport in high school, he found purpose, belonging, and a way to connect with others. However, repeated knee injuries prevented him from playing, plunging him into a deep depression. During this time, he attempted to end his life by drowning in Lake Michigan. With the support of doctors, Sylvie, and friends, William eventually reinvents himself as a physical therapist, helping prevent injuries for other players.

His early struggles with depression lead him to relinquish parental rights to his daughter, Alice, fearing he would negatively impact her life. Sylvie’s death prompts him to reconnect with Julia, and a series of events unfold, leading Alice to seek him out. Reuniting with Alice completes William’s healing journey; now, he can provide the support to her that his own parents couldn’t provide for him.

Julia Padavano

Julia Padavano, the oldest among her siblings, is known for her strong independence, ambition, and problem-solving skills. She took on a leadership role among her siblings during their childhood, always offering solutions to their problems.

Despite not being particularly interested in romance, Julia sees marriage as a crucial aspect of a successful life. This belief leads her to pursue a relationship and marry William. Initially, they are young and in love, but after Julia becomes pregnant with Alice, she becomes frustrated by William’s constant reliance on her for guidance. After giving birth, Julia’s perspective shifts significantly. She realizes that she doesn’t need a husband and has everything within herself to lead a happy and fulfilling life.

Julia faces her biggest challenge after divorcing William when Sylvie falls in love with him. Feeling betrayed, Julia decides to raise Alice without any knowledge of her extended family, including her father. These actions stem from Julia’s pain and her desire to control those around her. Sylvie’s marriage to William is the first time one of her sisters acts independently of her control.

When Cecelia got pregnant, Julia thought she could “fix” the situation by having a baby herself. This kind of thinking leaves Julia without a defined role in her family as everyone grows up and leads their own lives. To fully reconnect with her family, Julia must let go of her need for control and accept the people in her life as they are.

Sylvie Padavano

As a young girl, Sylvie is known for her love of books and her dream of experiencing a great romance. She starts working at the library when she’s just 13, displaying a strong work ethic. Sylvie takes community college classes, aiming to meet her mother’s expectations for all her daughters to finish college.

However, Sylvie doesn’t share her mother’s vision of a traditional life. Instead, she’s interested in exploring the deeper, philosophical aspects of life, much like her father, Charlie. Similar to him, Sylvie finds comfort in books and poetry, using them as a way to connect with the world around her.

In later chapters, it’s revealed that Sylvie didn’t always believe in the possibility of true love. In fact, she felt it was unattainable as a way to protect herself emotionally. However, when she starts falling in love with William, this protective barrier begins to unravel, and she decides to take the risks associated with love—even if it means straining her relationship with Julia.

When Sylvie receives a terminal brain tumor diagnosis, she feels grateful for having taken those risks, acknowledging that her courageous choices allowed her to love everyone and everything in her life.

Cecelia Padavano

Cecelia Padavano undergoes a transformation from an artistic and straightforward girl into a strong, independent woman who expresses her art to celebrate the women in her life. When she becomes pregnant with Izzy, her decision to keep the child without involving the father causes a rift in the Padavano family.

Her Catholic mother disapproves, worried that Cecelia might repeat her mistakes. Despite this, Cecelia stays true to her beliefs, forgives her mother, and chooses to live a life free of bitterness. Cecelia’s open-minded nature is evident in her choice to raise Izzy on her own and pursue her art despite the challenges of being a single mother.

Throughout the novel, she serves as an inspiration and motivator for her siblings, encouraging them to follow their dreams and passions. Cecelia becomes a model of empathy, passing these traits down to Izzy, who warmly welcomes Alice into the family when she arrives in Chicago.

Emeline Padavano

Emeline Padavano stands out as the most nurturing and caring sister in Hello Beautiful. Initially, she appears to be the most similar to Beth in Little Women. Shy in her younger years, Emeline tends to stay behind her sisters in social settings, much like she used to hide behind them at parties as a child. She has a deep love for children and saves money by working as the neighborhood babysitter, dreaming of the day when she can have children of her own.

Despite being a loving and supportive sister, Emeline carries a significant secret from her family—she is a lesbian. This secret weighs on her, but it’s William’s honesty about his own past that inspires her to share her truth with her sisters. Emeline’s journey toward coming out is a powerful story of acceptance and self-love.

When she reveals her sexuality to William, he is amazed at her transformation into someone more open, confident, and fully alive. Emeline goes on to marry her first love, Josie, and the two foster newborn babies together, fulfilling Emeline’s childhood dream of becoming a mother.

Alice Padavano

Alice Padavano is the daughter of William and Julia, born just before their divorce and long separation. Even though she’s born in Chicago, she grows up in New York City and doesn’t visit her hometown until she’s an adult. Julia’s lie leads Alice to believe her father is dead, which deeply affects her.

Like her father, Alice is unusually tall, standing at 6’1″, and she eagerly wants to meet the person who shares this trait. Feeling different from Julia, Alice experiences uncertainty and is likened to a cat afraid to leave its cardboard box.

In her youth, Alice’s height makes people perceive her as strong and capable, even when she needs help or support. Though she sensed Julia was keeping something from her, Alice hesitated to seek answers to avoid upsetting her mother. Learning the truth about her paternity fuels her determination to find answers.

By taking the risk of potential rejection, Alice discovers the family she always longed for and experiences a love more extensive than she could imagine. Meeting her father becomes the peak of Alice’s search, highlighting the importance of taking chances and living life to the fullest.

Happy reading! ❤️

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World Book Day: 15 Books By Black Women That Changed My Brain Chemistry

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As an avid reader, World Book Day shows me the power of imagination and story-telling. Books written by Black women have shaped my ambitions, fantasies, and fears.  Their words have lifted and comforted me through some of my darkest times. They have also motivated me to reach beyond my surroundings and consider the perspectives of Black women who don’t share my personal history. 

Black women have taken me to the shores of Martha’s Vineyard and the streets of Paris,  to  glamorous late-night spots in Hollywood, and sweltering living rooms in  Atlanta . I’ve stood over their shoulders as they grieved their loved ones, clasped my hands in excitement as their wildest dreams came true, and visited their home villages and family reunions. Through their words, I  am able to  immerse myself in their vision, setting my imagination ablaze as I become an extra in their stories. 

Black women excel in fiction and non-fiction. They invite readers into church pews, boardrooms, and trap houses. The work of women like  Jasmine Mans , Demetria Lucas, and Terri Woods has inspired me to try telling stories that differ from mine. The experience of being a Black woman is not a monolith, and learning what struggles our sisters face helps us be better for ourselves and each other. 

World Book Day allows us to celebrate literature in all forms. We’ve  been blessed  to experience talented authors who use their imagination, wit, and wealth of knowledge to stimulate our brain cells and activate our creative minds. In honor of World Book Day, here are 15 Books by Black women that helped shape my life by permanently altering my brain chemistry. 

7 Black Books Changing How We Think About Love

Natasha S. Alford Leaves No Black Girl Behind in ‘American Negra’ 

10 Children’s Books Every Black Child Should Own

1. The Wedding – Dorothy West

Luscious prose introduced me to the idea of well-to-do Black communities for the  first time in this classic novel. Thanks to this page-turner, the tittering gossip following a young lady’s choice to marry for love over stability took over my life. It helped me understand that there was more than one kind of pressure a young Black woman could face from her family. 

2. Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools – Monique W. Morris

Black girls  are denied  a  full  education due to presumptions about their attitudes. I saw myself in this book like I never had before. It follows the differences in how  a raised hand or a piqued curiosity can be destroyed  through systemic discrimination. It was academic research flooded with much-needed affirmation. 

3. A Belle in Brooklyn: The Go-to Girl for Advice on Living Your Best Single Life – Demetria Lucas

This collection of essays from the woman the Washington Post dubbed the “Black Carrie Bradshaw” is Sex and The City inspired a generation of young Black girls to aim higher. It was a colorful collection of personal stories with universal appeal. 

4. Silver Sparrow – Tayari Jones

Bare minimum baby daddy syndrome rears its ugly head in this novel from the author of  An American Marriage . Bigamy, jealousy, and denial make for a powerful story. It’s an unforgettable tale that will remind you of the importance of self-worth. 

5. You Can’t Touch My Hair

Robinson uses her superior sense of humor to discuss microaggressions, money management, romance, and more. The book presents a picture of what it is like to not fit the expectations many have for the Black women in their lives and how exhausting it is to translate one’s right to autonomy to strangers. 

6. Such A Fun Age – Kiley Reid

In her debut novel, Kiley Reid shows the dangers of girl bossing. It shows how Black women can get steamrolled by the aims of White feminism and the earnings for a cookout invitation. 

7. Editor In Chic – Mikki Taylor

In this memoir/manifesto, Taylor advocates the importance of pleasing yourself above others. It takes a self-aware approach to self-care. 

8. Somebody’s Daughter – Ashley C. Ford

Black women are rarely permitted to disclose difficult relationships with their mothers. Ford does this with an honesty and grace that is game-changing. Although she is the main character, that doesn’t mean she lacks empathy for the others in the story. She displays deep understanding, which helps her words hit harder. 

9. Failures of Forgiveness – Myisha Cherry

Black women  are frequently asked  to be the bigger person when aggrieved. We  are asked  to be the protectors and peacemakers, setting aside our pain to perform acts of alleged solidarity. This expert study confirmed that it is on the offender, not the injured party, to make things right. 

10. The Coldest Winter Ever A Novel

So many Black girls loved this book growing up, and I was no different. It took me years to realize that there was a cautionary tale oozing from the spicy quips and stylish scenes. 

11. Sugar – Bernice L. McFadden

If you loved Jazmine Sullivan’s  Heaux Tales , you will love this tale of respectability politics and unlikely friendship. Our culture needs to revamp the way we look at sex work, and revisiting this masterpiece is a great way to start. Before you start shading the next Black girl, pick up this book and remember everyone has their own story. 

12. Black Girl Call Home – Jasmine Mans

This book of poetry ties together heartache, matriarchal martyrdom, and the spirit of Black girldom  beautifully .  It is a must-read! I fell so deeply in love with this book of poetry I blew up the cover for home decor. 

13. Summer on The Bluffs

Hostin’s attempt to find the perfect beach read resulted in a fun but thoughtful trilogy.   It nodded to  the legacy of  The Wedding,  but it  paired it with a sexy, suspenseful story.  

14. True To The Game – Terri L. Woods

This novel was  extremely  accessible. It passed through my middle school like wildfire, with girls writing notes to one another in the margins. It humanized the Black men and women involved in the drug trade like never before. It also proved that independent publishing is still viable when the author has something to say. 

15. A Taste of Power A BLACK WOMAN’S STORY – Elaine Brown

Brown’s memoir shattered my childhood illusions about fairness.  It helped me understand how ideals can  become corrupted and legacies can become tarnished .   In the midst of  today’s turmoil, its messages are  stronger  than ever. 

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Women To Know: Hollywood Executives

For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.

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The Singles Table- a spoiler review Ramblings of a BookDragon

Hello my beautiful cuddlebugs, today i am going to be reviewing the singles table by Sara Desai.  a cute little love story with additional thoughts about the book in my usual rambly fashion.  

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For Caleb Carr, Salvation Arrived on Little Cat’s Feet

As he struggled with writing and illness, the “Alienist” author found comfort in the feline companions he recalls in a new memoir, “My Beloved Monster.”

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By Alexandra Jacobs

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MY BELOVED MONSTER: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me, by Caleb Carr

J. Alfred Prufrock measured his life out in coffee spoons . Caleb Carr has done so in cats.

Carr is best known for his 1994 best-selling novel “ The Alienist ,” about the search for a serial killer of boy prostitutes, and his work as a military historian. You have to prod the old brain folds a little more to remember that he is the middle son of Lucien Carr , the Beat Generation figure convicted of manslaughter as a 19-year-old Columbia student after stabbing his infatuated former Boy Scout leader and rolling the body into the Hudson.

This crime is only fleetingly alluded to in “My Beloved Monster,” which tracks Carr’s intimate relationship with a blond Siberian feline he names Masha — but his father haunts the book, as fathers will, more sinisterly than most.

After a short prison term, Lucien went on to become a respectable longtime editor for United Press International. He was a drunk — no surprise there, with famous dissolute-author pals like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg hanging around the house. But that he regularly beat Caleb and threw him down flights of stairs, causing not just psychological but physical injuries that persist into adult life, adds further dark shadings to this particular chapter of literary history.

In a boyhood marred by abuse, neglect and the upheaval of his parents’ divorce, cats were there to comfort and commune with Caleb. Indeed, he long believed he was one in a previous life, “ imperfectly or incompletely reincarnated ” as human, he writes.

Before you summon Shirley MacLaine to convene 2024’s weirdest author panel, consider the new ground “My Beloved Monster” breaks just by existing. Even leaving aside the countless novels about them, dogs have long been thought valid subjects for book-length treatment, from Virginia Woolf’s “ Flush ,” about Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s cocker spaniel, to John Grogan’s “ Marley and Me .” Meow-moirs are thinner on the ground.

It’s taken a younger generation of feminists, and probably the boredom and anxiety of quarantine, to destigmatize (and in some cases monetize ) being owned by a cat. Male cat fanciers, however, have long been stereotyped as epicene or eccentric, though their number has included such national pillars of machismo as Ernest Hemingway and Marlon Brando . When one male lawyer accidentally showed up to a civil forfeiture hearing behind a kitten filter on Zoom in 2021, America went wild with the incongruity.

Carr, though he’s a big one for research, doesn’t waste much time, as I just have, throat-clearing about cats’ perch in the culture. He’s suffered from one painful illness after another — neuropathy, pancreatitis, peritonitis, Covid or something Covid-like, cancer; and endured multiple treatments and surgeries, some “botched” — and his writing has the forthrightness and gravity of someone who wants to maximize his remaining time on Earth.

He capitalizes not only Earth, but the Sun, the Moon and the roles played by various important anonymous humans in his life, which gives his story a sometimes ponderous mythic tone: there’s the Mentor, the Lady Vet (a homage to Preston Sturges’ “The Lady Eve”; Carr is a classic movie buff), the Spinal Guru and so forth.

Names are reserved for a succession of cats, who have seemingly been as important to Carr as lovers or human friends, if not more so. (At least one ex felt shortchanged by comparison.) Masha is his spirit animal, a feminine counterpart better than any you could find in the old New York Review of Books personals . She eats, he notes admiringly, “like a barbarian queen”; she enjoys the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff and Wagner (“nothing — and I’ll include catnip in this statement,” he writes, “made her as visibly overjoyed as the Prelude from ‘Das Rheingold’”); she has a really great set of whiskers.

Before Masha there was Suki, blond as well, but a bewitching emerald-eyed shorthair who chomped delicately around rodents’ organs and disappeared one night. Suki was preceded by Echo, a part-Abyssinian with an adorable-sounding penchant for sticking his head in Carr’s shirtfront pocket. Echo was preceded by Chimene, a tabby-splotched white tomcat the adolescent Caleb nurses miraculously through distemper. Chimene was preceded by Ching-ling, whose third litter of kittens suffer a deeply upsetting fate. And before Ching-ling there was Zorro, a white-socked “superlative mouser” who once stole an entire roast chicken from the top of the Carr family’s refrigerator.

To put it mildly, “My Beloved Monster” is no Fancy Feast commercial. All of the cats in it, city and country — Carr has lived in both, though the action is centered at his house on a foothill of Misery Mountain in Rensselaer County, N.Y— are semi-feral creatures themselves at constant risk of gruesome predation. Masha, rescued from a shelter, had also been likely abused, at the very least abandoned in a locked apartment, and Carr is immediately, keenly attuned to her need for wandering free.

This, of course, will put her at risk. The tension between keeping her safe and allowing her to roam, out there with bears, coyotes and fearsome-sounding creatures called fisher weasels, is the central vein of “My Beloved Monster,” and the foreboding is as thick as her triple-layered fur coat. More so when you learn Carr keeps a hunting rifle by one of his easy chairs.

But the book is also about Carr’s devotion to a line of work he likens to “professional gambling.” Despite his best sellers, Hollywood commissions and conscious decision not to have children to stop the “cycle of abuse,” Carr has faced money troubles. The I.R.S. comes to tape a placard to his door and he’s forced to sell vintage guitars to afford Masha’s medications, for she has begun in eerie parallel to develop ailments of her own.

“My Beloved Monster’ is a loving and lovely, lay-it-all-on-the-line explication of one man’s fierce attachment. If you love cats and feel slightly sheepish about it, it’s a sturdy defense weapon. If you hate them, well, there’s no hope for you.

MY BELOVED MONSTER : Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me | By Caleb Carr | Little, Brown | 352 pp. | $32

Alexandra Jacobs is a Times book critic and occasional features writer. She joined The Times in 2010. More about Alexandra Jacobs

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