Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Emily Henry's latest romance novel is her most ambitious yet, featuring interwoven timelines and narratives alongside the usual sizzling chemistry
A new Emily Henry novel is an event, ushering in longer days and promises of summer. Great Big Beautiful Life is Henry’s most ambitious novel yet in terms of scope, following our protagonist Alice Scott as she competes for the coveted breakthrough of her journalism career: the opportunity to pen the supposed authorised biography of enigmatic media heiress, socialite, and musical muse Margaret Ives.
Set in the small Georgian coastal town of Little Crescent, the novel follows Alice’s run-ins with her professional competitor, Pulitzer Prize winner Hayden Anderson who is as determined to bag the job as he is ruggedly handsome and grumpy. The rivals turn reluctant co-sleuths as they begin to suspect Margaret is editing the truth about her elusive history and identity.
This novel has Henry’s trademark warmth as she writes love, grief, and humour with tender authenticity. Alice is Henry’s most earnest protagonist yet and the heart of the novel; her scrappy determination is both endearing and captivating for the reader as we try to put the pieces together alongside her, and Hayden is a wonderful foil for her optimistic grit.
The meta-textuality of Alice’s story interwoven with Margaret’s with a focus on family, reputation, loyalty, and myth-making adds layers and depth to the romantic comedy brewing between Alice and Hayden. Great Big Beautiful Life is both a triumph and bold evolution for Emily Henry.
