This month’s book club read was Hello Beautiful, by Ann Napolitano.
It was a 2023 Oprah’s Book Club pick.
This is the first novel I have read by this author and it was told from the point of view of the main characters over the course of three decades.
A novel not only about the family you are born into, but the family you gain over the years through schooling, work, and interests. A deep and heartbreaking portrayal of a family of sisters, the Padavano sisters (four in all) and a man, William, who marries into the family. William brings with him a tragic past that he is still living. It’s a story of sadness and loss, promise, hope, and the love, complexity, and quirks of family-both good and bad.
I have mixed emotions about this book mainly because of its depressive nature, and I will be very interested to attend my book club next week to get the others thoughts on this novel. I read this 383-page story over the course of a week returning each night to find out what would happen next to this once close-knit group of sisters. I thought the author did a great job of putting you in the time period and moment. Some of the characters’ actions and inflexibility irritated me, but I give credit to the author for invoking these emotions. Hello Beautiful exposes the not so pretty truths of life and family.
