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Hello Beautiful

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Hello Beautiful

By: Ann Napolitano
Narrated by: Maura Tierney
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward comes a beautifully tender, heartbreaking, and moving story of four sisters over three decades.

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?

©2023 Ann Napolitano (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Marriage Heartfelt Tear-jerking

Critic Reviews

"A rich, complex family saga, Hello Beautiful is a portrait of love and grief in equal measure. Napolitano's prose is so lovely, so keenly perceptive, that it held me captive until I finished. A lot of people are going to love this story." (Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes)

"Like great jazz, Hello Beautiful takes a melody and transforms it. This is a richly-woven story about family, but it's also a unique take on Little Women. There are no heroes or villains here, only people--flawed and loving and striving like the rest of us. Generosity is the word that comes to mind when I reflect on this gorgeous novel." (Allegra Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of The Cookbook Collector and Sam)

"Ann Napolitano's writing is astonishing." (Marian Keyes, Sunday Times bestselling author of Again, Rachel)

What listeners say about Hello Beautiful

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Loved this book

Beautifully written and read to me. Have listened to the book twice now. About 18 months apart

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A delight

Some characters are annoyingly stubborn but overall I found this to be a really lovely family saga. Great narration.

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Wonderful story

This book was beautiful, narration was lovely. A wonderful exploration of the human condition. You will need some tissues for the last few chapters!!

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Beautiful

Loved everything about this book. I didn’t find it predictable like others have suggested. Well written especially the description of emotions. Sure to be a classic.

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A beautiful and heart warming story !

Such a beautiful book! It shows how people’s stubbornness can cost them lost precious time with the family! Beautifully written to show love and compassion, differences and support amongst the sisters. What I don’t understand is how a mother and a sister goes 25 years without seeing their family and yet living in the same country! Blows my mind.

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A lovely read

A easy and enjoyable ready. Relatable characters who you feel engaged with as the story progresses.

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Great epic but understated family saga

Great epic but understated saga about relationships with self, family, and the ways we make our way in the wider world, including what happens when these don’t go the ways the (well drawn) characters had hoped.

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A great family saga

An inter generational drama about family friends and love of all kinds. Ordinary people who are trying to live their best versions of themselves.
I enjoyed the writing particularly how each chapter was a a different characters’ voice.

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i loved this story! A beautiful book

i loved this story! A beautiful book telling the story of a big, messy family. Great characters

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Love this book.

Such a great look at the internal world of the characters and the complex relationships in families even close ones. How we can get stuck in a pattern and just not change it.

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