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Great Big Beautiful Life
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry.
As featured in The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ NPR ∙ Vogue ∙ The Cut ∙ USA Today ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Glamour ∙ ELLE ∙ E! Online ∙ The New York Post ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader's Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more!
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it.
As featured in The New York Times ∙ Rolling Stone ∙ People ∙ Good Morning America ∙ NPR ∙ Vogue ∙ The Cut ∙ USA Today ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ Harper's Bazaar ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Glamour ∙ ELLE ∙ E! Online ∙ The New York Post ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader's Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more!
Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.
When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.
One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.
Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.
Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.
But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.
And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it.
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Community Reviews
WOW. What a stunning, emotional, beautifully written book. I loved this one so, so much. It felt a little different from Emily Henryâs usual styleâin the best possible way.
While there is romance (and yes, it was absolute chefâs kiss perfection), it definitely takes a backseat to the deeper emotional journey at the heart of the story. This one leans more into womenâs fiction, and it does so brilliantly.
The main storyline gave me strong The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes (which happens to be one of my favorite books ever)âthat sweeping, layered, introspective storytelling that pulls you in and does not let go.
I know I say every new Emily Henry book is my favorite when it comes out, but this one? This might actually top all of them. Itâs that good. Emotional, thoughtful, gorgeously writtenâI didnât want it to end.
If youâre a fan of stories that dive deep into identity, legacy, and self-discoveryâwith just the right amount of romanceâthis book is everything.
While there is romance (and yes, it was absolute chefâs kiss perfection), it definitely takes a backseat to the deeper emotional journey at the heart of the story. This one leans more into womenâs fiction, and it does so brilliantly.
The main storyline gave me strong The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes (which happens to be one of my favorite books ever)âthat sweeping, layered, introspective storytelling that pulls you in and does not let go.
I know I say every new Emily Henry book is my favorite when it comes out, but this one? This might actually top all of them. Itâs that good. Emotional, thoughtful, gorgeously writtenâI didnât want it to end.
If youâre a fan of stories that dive deep into identity, legacy, and self-discoveryâwith just the right amount of romanceâthis book is everything.
âAfter more than three decades on this planet, all it took was a few weeks and the right person to entirely rearrange my composition.â
Another audiobook for the month of June is in the books! Emily Henry has always been either a hit or a miss for me. Some of her work I have loved, some I’ve barely finished and almost DNF’d. I’m happy to say that “Great Big Beautiful Life” was another hit for me! This book explores the lives of Margaret Ives , Hayden Anderson and Alice Scott. Margaret, heiress of a fortune her father built, fled the public eye years ago. No one has seen her or heard from her since. The public may think they know her story, but now she’s ready to share HER version of it all. Enter writers Hayden and Alice, both hired to potentially write Margaret’s biography. The catch? They each have a month to impress Margaret and earn the chance to write her story, and they must both sign NDA’s, preventing them from discussing their private interviews with one another. Hayden and Alice set to work, but soon discover that Margaret is intentionally leaving important information out of the telling of her story. As they navigate their fight for the job while also navigating their growing feelings for one another, they must also decide how much they can share with each other, if anything, without violating the NDA’s they signed and losing Margaret’s trust. Neither knows how things will turn out, only that both of them fiercely want this job, but even more fiercely want each other. Emotions soar as we dig deeper into the story and come to an ending that will surprise and shock you as mysteries are unveiled, family drama is exposed, and the past and the present connect, telling a beautiful, albeit heavy, story with love at the heart of it all.
“When you love someone, you do anything to give them what they need. You unmake the world and build a new one.”
“Great Big Beautiful Life” has a storyline that I thoroughly enjoyed and connected with more than I anticipated I would, with characters that easily made their way into my heart. I absolutely loved Margaret and following her life story, watching everything slowly unfold through her storytelling. I connected with her in very personal ways, especially towards the end. Hayden and Alice were a real treat and captured my heart, with both of their stories also resonating with me deeply. I especially enjoyed watching their protective nature for one another grow as their feelings for one another grew stronger, even when that protectiveness threatened to hurt them even more. I also loved how this story sheds light on the ways our histories directly impact us and our present and future selves. It made for an even more compelling and thought provoking read. Everything was woven together so perfectly by the end, making for a truly captivating and emotional reading experience. There were definitely some pretty descriptive spicy scenes (I kept apologizing to Kris about having to listen to my smut in the evenings, lol 😂🫠…perhaps time to invest in some good headphones 😅) and some foul language throughout, which are the only things that kept this from being a 5 star for me. Even with those 2 things factored in, I’m still left wondering if I should just go with 5 stars since I genuinely loved everything else about this book. I am so glad I took the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version of it. It’s one I would definitely pick up again and will be purchasing a hard copy of, as well. 💗 4.75 stars bumped to 5 stars on Goodreads.
A really great read, I appreciate that the author has excellent variety in choice of vocabulary. The only reasons it's not 10 stars is because of too many love scenes. A few here and there are fine, but I felt too many caused them to become boring and take away from the story. Also, the last chapter felt a little bit too rushed and too "wrapped up with a bow".
Such a beautiful tale of two intertwined love stories. I loved learning all about the life of Margaret Ives through the interviews done by our FMC. I enjoyed the competition of garnering a job through a month's worth of work (albeit I would hate being put into that situation myself) and how we see our two MCs interact with each other.
I laughed at the banter, I almost cried during some of the family time, and most important I fell in love with all the characters. I don't think there is a character in this book that I don't like.
This was my first Emily Henry book and I will definitely be picking up more of them in the future.
I gave this 4 stars because there was one thing that bothered me over and over. It's putting "he said" or "she said" after every line of dialogue. Sometimes that read very elementary and redundant. Authors don't get paid by the word so it just didn't make sense why that was included so many times. But alas, I'm just being picky.
I laughed at the banter, I almost cried during some of the family time, and most important I fell in love with all the characters. I don't think there is a character in this book that I don't like.
This was my first Emily Henry book and I will definitely be picking up more of them in the future.
I gave this 4 stars because there was one thing that bothered me over and over. It's putting "he said" or "she said" after every line of dialogue. Sometimes that read very elementary and redundant. Authors don't get paid by the word so it just didn't make sense why that was included so many times. But alas, I'm just being picky.
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