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A review by thebookishelf
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
5.0
Ann Napolitano’s latest novel Hello Beautiful is a poignant and emotionally complex family drama that explores the relationships between four sisters and the ripple effects of trauma across generations. Set between the 1960s and the early 2000s, the novel follows the Padavano sisters – Julia, Sylvie, Cecelia, and Emeline – as they navigate love, loss, motherhood, and their own identities and desires against the backdrop of pivotal historical moments.
The novel opens in 1960 with the brief life and tragic death of William Water’s older sister, Caroline. Her passing casts a permanent shadow over the Waters family that William grapple with over the ensuing decades. William grew up as an only child after his sister Caroline died when he was only a few days old. His parents, particularly his father, became distant after losing Caroline. William mostly kept to himself, finding solace in basketball which he was talented at from a young age. He graduated high school and earned a basketball scholarship to Northwestern.
The protagonists of the novel are the oldest Padavano sisters, Julia and Sylvie. Julia is ambitious, determined, and driven. She plans her life down to every detail and sees the world in straightforward causal relationships, believing she can control outcomes through sheer willpower. Sylvie, in contrast, is a dreamer and a romantic, more interested in losing herself in fiction than in worldly ambition.
On the whole, Hello Beautiful stands out for its poignant emotional resonance and textured and dynamic character psychology. The 1970s suburban Chicago setting proves an immersive backdrop to delve into the complex interior lives of its heroines. Napolitano's quietly perceptive prose illuminates intergenerational trauma's subtle but indelible fingerprint on identity. An impactful family saga guaranteed to linger in the mind long after the final page.
The novel opens in 1960 with the brief life and tragic death of William Water’s older sister, Caroline. Her passing casts a permanent shadow over the Waters family that William grapple with over the ensuing decades. William grew up as an only child after his sister Caroline died when he was only a few days old. His parents, particularly his father, became distant after losing Caroline. William mostly kept to himself, finding solace in basketball which he was talented at from a young age. He graduated high school and earned a basketball scholarship to Northwestern.
The protagonists of the novel are the oldest Padavano sisters, Julia and Sylvie. Julia is ambitious, determined, and driven. She plans her life down to every detail and sees the world in straightforward causal relationships, believing she can control outcomes through sheer willpower. Sylvie, in contrast, is a dreamer and a romantic, more interested in losing herself in fiction than in worldly ambition.
On the whole, Hello Beautiful stands out for its poignant emotional resonance and textured and dynamic character psychology. The 1970s suburban Chicago setting proves an immersive backdrop to delve into the complex interior lives of its heroines. Napolitano's quietly perceptive prose illuminates intergenerational trauma's subtle but indelible fingerprint on identity. An impactful family saga guaranteed to linger in the mind long after the final page.