My Review:

Hello Beautiful is a moving story that made me cry and warmed my heart, even before it became Oprah’s 100th pick for her influential book club. So thrilling for author Ann Napolitano as the unexpected, life and career changing personal phone call from Oprah came while she was taking out the garbage!

Choosing who to love changes other relationships and alters destinies but the strongest of ties will endure.

The Padavona sisters, rooted in Chicago, are thick as thieves and close with their parents. Julia, the oldest, falls in love with William, a basketball player whose dark past interferes with their happiness, foiling her plans for their future. Leaving everything behind, Julia sets out to accomplish her goals on her own, far away from William and her tight knit family. The remaining sisters offer support to William who is shrouded in darkness, and an unexpected love develops. As secrets keep the sisters at a distance, family bonds are damaged and this traditional family’s path changes. When tragedy hits, we see the true power of love and sisterly ties.

I enjoyed each of the well developed characters and spent time thinking about the life decisions they made long after I finished the book. Hello Beautiful, deep and emotional, and told from alternating points of view, is a powerful portrayal of family bonds, love, life choices and most importantly, forgiveness. With additional focus on basketball, teammate support, physical and mental health and career happiness, it is a full and thoughtful story I highly recommend.

About the Author

Ann Napolitano’s novel, Dear Edward, was published by Dial Press in January 2020 and was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and was released on February 3rd as an Apple TV+ series starring Connie Britton. She is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. She was the Associate Editor of One Story literary magazine from 2014-2020. She received an MFA from New York University; she has taught fiction writing for Brooklyn College’s MFA program, New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers’ Workshop. In November 2019, Ann was long-listed for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.

Dear Edward has been published by Dial Press in the United States, and by Viking Penguin in the United Kingdom. The novel currently has twenty-seven international publishers. It was named one of the best books of 2020 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Real Simple, Fast Company, Women’s World, Parade, LibraryReads and Amazon.

A Good Hard Look was published in the United States by Penguin Press. The novel appeared on the Southern Independent bestseller list, on one of NPR’s Best of 2011 lists, and was also an Indie Next Pick and an Okra Pick.

Her first novel, Within Arm’s Reach, was published in the United States by Crown Publishing, in the United Kingdom by Time Warner Books/Virago, in Spain by Ediciones Salamandra, and in Germany by Verlagsgruppe Droemer Weltbild. The novel was adapted and staged as a theatrical production in New York City in 2014.

Ann lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.