I got outside my comfort zone recently with reading a beautiful book by Ann Napolitano called Hello Beautiful. I walked into my local massage therapist/spa and saw it sitting on the coffee table with some other books. The owner explained that she was in a book club that read it and that the books on the table were free to be borrowed.
I was drawn to Hello Beautiful because of its interesting cover and because she explained that it was a take on, or homage to, Little Women. I winced, looking up at her with the question: “Does it have a happy ending?” She assured me that it did, and I took the book home with me gratefully. It was so kind of the owner to share it with her customers!
I found out as I was reading the book that it was apparently hugely popular and had been an Oprah’s Bookclub pick for 2023. I resisted reading all reviews of it because I wanted to form my own opinions.
As I started, I knew it was going to pull at the heartstrings in the manner of a Nicholas Sparks book, and I have always been sensitive to emotional books and TV. In Little Women, one of the sisters dies, so someone had to die, which the book more or less warns you of early on. So it’s not the type of book I usually gravitate toward.
Anyway, the book takes you down a couple of unexpected routes, and it does certainly rip your heart out and make you nervous and feel dread and sorrow – as well as joy. But that’s not the point really. It’s such a well-written book.
I’ve never seen such beautiful writing, to be honest. The way Napolitano describes love, for instance, without actually saying what it is, ties you to the way it feels in real life versus how reading about love often seems like a fantasy. The metaphors she chooses are spot on and creative, not overused. The subtlety she infuses is exquisite in a world that seems to beat you over the head with “the point.” The homage she pays to Little Women is both respectful and creative, pulling the essence of the original characters from a very different time period and infusing those qualities in more modern women.
But more than that, the book is literary in the truest sense: it makes you ponder things and see things you never saw before. It explores the motivations of humans, is not afraid to talk about difficult things, and tries to make some sense of the world. Even when the actions of the characters don’t make sense, that clarifies certain aspects of life.
I saw that another book by this author, Dear Edward, is also very popular. I decided to purchase it and, stopping in Barnes and Noble, I found it on the “buy one get one half off” table – so that was a no-brainer! Sadly, I couldn’t finish the book and thought it was very far below the quality of Hello Beautiful. That said, I think this author is worth exploring. So if you feel like you currently have the emotional stamina and would like to be deeply moved, I highly recommend the book!
Tara Cowan 