Great Big Beautiful Life (Reese's Book Club)

by Emily Henry Narrated by Julia Whelan

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

An elusive heiress, a love story and a mystery. Cathartic, romantic, tragic and charming, Emily Henry told her readers this book challenged her like no other. Grab an extra copy — you’ll want to share it with everyone you know.

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Her best-selling romances have made her a new standard-bearer of the genre."—The New York Times

“Readers can count on Em-Hen to transport them to a kinder, sunnier, and funnier galaxy where happy endings can be counted on . . . Henry’s magic elixir, it seems, is to return again and again to a simple boy-meets-girl formula while writing textured novels populated with vivid characters that never feel formulaic: she takes us back to a time when we believed, with all our being, that love conquers all.”—The Boston Globe

“A sweeping love story about the choices we make and the threads that knit us together. Thoughtful, moving, and deliciously tender. Emily Henry is as captivating as ever. I love everything she does.”—B.K. Borison, New York Times bestselling author of First Time Caller

“A true joy. Playful, fun, and virtuosically plotted, Great Big Beautiful Life is a novel about life's winding paths and dangerous dead-ends—and the way that love can lead us out of the labyrinth.”—Kaliane Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of The Ministry of Time

“Emily Henry spoils us with this one, giving readers not one but two gorgeous stories. Great Big Beautiful Life plays with truth, story-telling, family, and the things we do for love. With a delicious slow-burn romance, a perfectly grumpy hero, and a setting that comes to life, this one checked all my boxes. Two compelling stories to move the plot forward meant I couldn't put it down! Emily Henry does it again!’”—Laurie Gilmore, USA Today bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe

"Great Big Beautiful Life has everything you love in a classic Emily Henry novel, plus so much more. Nobody writes chemistry like Emily Henry, and you're guaranteed to fall head over heels for Alice and Hayden."—Beth O'Leary, international bestselling author of Swept Away

“What begins as a charming if standard rom-com evolves into a hauntingly beautiful meditation on what makes a life well lived in the latest showstopper from Henry . . . This is a stunner.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Both longtime Henry fans and new romance readers will devour this rivals-to-lovers slow burn, one of Henry’s best to date. Also good for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.”—Library Journal (starred review)

"Henry (Funny Story, 2024) continues to burnish her reputation for fashioning sublimely satisfying love stories with another perfectly calibrated, delectably witty tale featuring endearingly quirky, thoughtfully nuanced characters."—Booklist (starred review)

“Alice and Hayden’s romance is a delightful slow burn and Henry, as always, shines when exploring family drama . . . Both a steamy romance and a moving look at the sacrifices people make for love.”—Kirkus

“Emily Henry's talent for capturing great love stories with even greater life lessons is exceptionally striking.”—Shelf Awareness

Kirkus Reviews

2025-02-15
Two journalists compete for the chance to write the biography of an aging heiress.

Alice Scott works for a pop-culture website, but she hopes writing a biography of Margaret Ives, a reclusive heiress known as the Tabloid Princess, will boost her career to the next level. One problem: Margaret Ives is incredibly hard to track down. Make that two problems: When Alice finally finds her on a small island off the coast of Georgia, another journalist is there, too—Hayden Anderson. They both want this job, and Margaret wants to be sure she can trust the person telling her story, so she proposes an unusual deal. Both Alice and Hayden will stay on the island and work with Margaret for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll decide who gets to write her book. Hayden couldn’t be more different from Alice—while she’s optimistic and friendly, he’s cynical and standoffish. She’s desperately seeking her family’s approval and thinks she can get it by writing a book, and he’s a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer. The two of them sign ironclad NDAs, but it’s a small island and they can’t help running into each other—and then, against all odds, they even start to like each other. Alice and Hayden’s unlikely attraction is only one of the book’s timelines, however. Although Henry is known as the queen of contemporary romance, here she explores the world of historical fiction as Alice interviews Margaret and learns about her family’s history—going back to the gold rush and the early days of Hollywood—and finally the tragic love story that led her to retreat from the public eye. Alice also begins to unravel her own family history and learns that the stories she’s been telling herself may not have been true after all. Alice and Hayden’s romance is a delightful slow burn and Henry, as always, shines when exploring family drama, but the emphasis here is on Margaret’s past and how it ties into everyone’s future.

Both a steamy romance and a moving look at the sacrifices people make for love.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940191094304
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	04/22/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos