I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done a fantastic job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. The language is clear, concise, and evocative, with descriptions that bring the setting and characters to life. Dialogue is natural and authentic, and the pacing is well-balanced, with enough tension and release to keep the reader engaged. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I was completely absorbed in this story from start to finish! Anything which sweeps across time and generations will have me hooked, so to explore this family of 4 sisters and the dynamics of their relationships across time was right up my street. A modern Little Women - absolutely loved it and will be recommending to my reading friends.

This is an extremely well-written book, loosely based on Alcott’s ‘Little Women’, about four Italian-American sisters -Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia and Emeline. They live in a Chicago suburb with parents, Charlie and Rose.

Each chapter has a different character’s focus, told in the third-person, though, and the novel spans about 30 years, skipping over the characters’ lives. Here, there is a story about growing up, close relationships and what happens when things go wrong. To avoid spoilers, I am not writing about these but there are significant episodes which impact on the book’s story.

I really like Napolitano’s pared-back prose. My main reason for not awarding 5* is the somewhat implausible nature of some parts - namely, Julia lying to her daughter and her not finding out, which I guess could happen but is perhaps unlikely. And also, I wonder if the time span is perhaps too long.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

📖 FROM THE COVER

Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls are seen as inseparable by everyone in their close-knit Italian-American neighbourhood. 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: 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?

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A beautiful novel told from four of the main characters POV thoughout the passage of time starting the 70’s, ending in 2018. This is a character lead novel of which the charactes are flawed and real, it shows the heartbreaking reality of life, how brakes us and how it makes it. It’s overriding message is one of hope and love. I loved the sisters relationships and dynamics between them, there was real Little Women feel to it, which I adored. While it took a little while to take off once it did I couldn’t put it down.
It is tender, wise, immersive, compelling and woven together beautifully. A book that will make you ponder and stay with you. Brilliant read for a lazy beach holiday

I greatly enjoyed Hello Beautiful by Anna Napolitano – set in Chicago and beginning in the late 1970s, it’s the story of four sisters and their changing lives, loves, triumphs and disappointments. It’s very loosely based on Little Women (sometimes each sister worries that they are like Beth) and I’m gripped by the complicated dynamics and love between the Padavano sisters. The novel was released to much acclaim in the US a few months ago and is published here in July – it’s an immersive and compelling summer read and ideal for readers (like me!) who love Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Strout.

Hello beautiful begins with us meeting William who gets a scholarship and moves to Chicago University where he meets Julian Padavano one of 4 sisters. All four sisters we get to know are unique in their own way but have the most incredible bond which really came across. I found this to be a real character based book.
The writing was beautiful, moving and sad all at once. I really felt like I was part of the family. The book explores family, sisterhood, depression and grief,
I will be recommending this book to others and looking out for more from this author.

Such a beautifully woven story of a close knit family. I felt by the end that I really knew all the characters extremely well. There was some sadness along the way, but the author brought everything together in a wonderful resolution of the families differences.

I just loved this from the start. This is the story of four sisters and their chaotic and somewhat dysfunctional lives. The family fell apart when their father died.

It's a slow burn journey throughout their lives and the choices they make along the way, with some areas a little slower than others. Told from various points of view it was good to see what they were thinking, especially when they wouldn't confide in each other.

It is likened to Little Women because they base themselves as a character from the book. They often wondered who Beth would be, which I found sad. When the words 'Hello Beautiful' were spoken towards the end, it brought a lump to my throat. I found it very enjoyable.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a moving and thought-provoking novel about the power of love and family. The story follows William Waters, a man who is haunted by the death of his older sister, Caroline, when he was just six days old. Caroline's death has a profound impact on William's life, and he struggles to find his place in the world.

The novel is told from the perspectives of William, his wife, Julia, and his daughter, Sylvie. Each character is dealing with their own grief and loss, and the novel explores the ways in which these losses shape our lives.

Hello Beautiful is a beautifully written novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Napolitano's writing is lyrical and evocative, and she brings her characters to life with compassion and understanding. The novel is a powerful reminder of the importance of love and family, and it will leave you with a renewed sense of hope.

This is a really lovely story, which I enjoyed very much. The friendships and family bonds are beautifully described and the characters are well-rounded. I did think that the twin's characters were not sufficiently differentiated, and that the novel was too drawn out at the end, so became over long. However, it was a delightful read.

An emotional and dramatic family saga spanning 50 years, reminiscent of Elizabeth Strout's Lucy Barton series, and written as an homage to Little Women.

The Padavano are a close-knit family living in an Italian-American neighbourhood. The four sisters have different characters and roles within the family but are inseparable.

William's upbringing is very different with emotionally distant parents who continue to shun him and mourn the loss of his sister years ago when he was just a newborn baby.

Their paths cross at college, William having secured a basketball scholarship and Julia saving money by attending whilst living at home.

As the story unfolds, their relationship develops and we also follow the sisters and their evolving dynamics through the various tragedies the family encounters.

‘m not crying, you‘re crying. 😭

I thought Dear Edward was overly mawkish so I was worried about this one. However this book stays just the right side of cloying sentimentality, whilst still being full of warmth and was a fantastic read.

A (kind of) re-telling of Little Women it follows lonely neglected William as he meets Julia Padavano and is drawn into her family. I hadn't actually noticed the Little Women references myself, until I got right to the end. I'm kind of glad as I think I'd have been looking out for similarities and I'm pleased I got to enjoy the book purerly on its own merits.

Wow I am so sad to have finished this amazing book. Compared to a modern day little women but so wonderful and unique in its own way. I just got swept away in the writing from page 1. I am jealous of anyone who is yet to get lost in this amazing story.

Family sagas are my favourite genre and so I was really looking forward to reading Hello Beautiful, described as a homage to Little Women.

It tells the story of the four Padvano sisters; Julia, Sylvie and twins Emeline and Cecilia whose lives are changed when Julia meets William at college. It's set in Chicago and told over the course of 40 years as we witness a family rift and secrets.

It is an absolutely stunning and beautifully written novel that I was completely immersed and invested in from the first pages. The characterisation is powerful, I loved all of the sisters and was so moved by this insightful and emotional novel. I was bereft when it ended and would highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Family drama, homage to Little Women: four sisters, love, betrayal, grief. Set (mainly) in Chicago and spanning over 30 years, the members of the Padavano family are realistic and touching. I feel the ending was a bit rushed.

I knew I wanted to read this even before it was Oprah’s 100th book club pick. It’s a family story spanning three decades and focusing on the Padavanos, a working-class Italian American Chicago clan with four daughters: Julia, Sylvie, and twins Cecilia and Emeline. Julia meets melancholy basketball player William Waters while at Northwestern in the late 1970s and they marry and have a daughter; Sylvie, a librarian, makes out with boys in the stacks until her great romance comes along; Cecilia is an artist and Emeline loves babies and manages a nursery. More than once a character think of their collective story as a “soap opera,” and there’s plenty of melodrama here – an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, estrangements, a suicide attempt, a coming out, stealing another’s man – as well as far-fetched coincidences, including the two major deaths falling on the same day as a birth and a reconciliation.

There is such warmth and intensity to the telling, and brave reckoning with mental illness, prejudice and trauma, that I excused flaws such as dwelling overly much in characters’ heads through close third person narration, to the detriment of scenes and dialogue. I love sister stories in general, and the subtle echoes of Leaves of Grass and Little Women (the connections aren’t one to one and you’re kept guessing for most of the book who will be the Beth) add heft. I especially appreciated how a late parent is still remembered in daily life after 30 years have passed. This is, believe it or not, the second basketball novel I’ve loved this year, after Tell the Rest by Lucy Jane Bledsoe.

There was a lot packed into this book and it was most definitely a slow read that only picked up pace after the half-way mark.

William's three year old sister suddenly dies when he is less than a week old. This causes his parents to become emotionally detached from him. He grows up as a stranger in his own home. His only outlet is basketball. He later goes on the attend Northwestern and plays on their basketball team. It is during this time that he meets Julia - the eldest of four Padavano sisters. This is where the direction of the book changes and it becomes about the Padavano family. William and Julia get married but William's childhood scars run deep and it is only when this comes to the forefront, that everyone's lives change. The story spans over several decades and the reader sees just how different every character's life becomes.

Ann Napolitano has covered some difficult topics in this book like mental health, the break up of a family unit and grief. However, I felt a huge disconnect with the characters; some of them being dislikeable. I found them to be selfish and bitter.

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 it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college.

He soon meets Julia Padavano - and she is inseparable from her three younger sisters. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

This is probably the most disappointing book of 2023 for me.

The writing in Hello Beautiful reminds me of a middle school diary, the way mental health is treated is absolutely appalling, and the 'unwavering bond' if the sisters that is promised on the cover text is complete codependency that never gets closely examined.

It seems like this novel definitely has an audience - people seem to love it! Unfortunately I am really struggling to see why.

I have always made it a rule that I will never not finish a book even if I really don’t like it. This has served me fine except for a couple of times. One of those being this book. For me, although I love the Fannie Flagg style of writing, and felt that the middle of the book was really drawn out and lost my interest as a reader. Also the constant change between first and second person account meant that in fact, it didn’t seem like anyone had a clear voice.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano is a powerful and moving novel about family, love, and loss.

The novel is told from the perspectives of the four siblings, William and Alice .
This allows us to get to know each character intimately and to understand their unique perspectives.
The author did an amazing job of creating believable and relatable characters. I felt their anger, heartbreak, sadness and most importantly their devotion and love pour from every page.
The characters became completely fully formed with this beautifully descriptive and lyrical prose and I felt like I was completely immersed into their world and became their friend. Well maybe not roses lol.

However although this novel is undeniably beautifully written reader be warned it is a very, very slow burn of a book.

This is Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet meets Louisa may Alcotts little women and I won’t tell you if ‘Beth dies’ no spoiler here. But if your anything like me you will find yourself on an emotional rollercoaster by the end.

If you are looking for a novel that will move you and stay with you long after you have finished reading it, then I highly recommend Hello Beautiful.