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Great Big Beautiful Life: The dazzling new romantic novel from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Beach Read
£10.40
When Margaret Ives, the famously reclusive heiress, invites eternal optimist Alice Scott to the balmy Little Crescent Island, Alice knows this is it: her big break. And even more rare: a chance to impress her family with a Serious Publication.
The catch? Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud, Hayden Anderson, is sure of the same thing.
The proposal? A one-month trial period to unearth the truth behind one of the most scandalous families of the 20th Century, after which she’ll choose who’ll tell her story.
The problem? Margaret is only giving each of them tantalising pieces. Pieces they can’t 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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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin (22 April 2025) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 5.7 MB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Not Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Print length | 420 pages |
| Page numbers source ISBN | 0241789877 |
by ren itseli
Congratulations, Emily Henry! You’ve done it again!
“‘I want to write about love,’ I say. Bianca nods. ‘So do that. Write about love.’”
This book was a beautiful love story, and not just the story between Hayden and Alice, but the unexpected love stories. Between sisters, parents, relatives, and friends. The love flows out of every word, every sentence, and every action! I was genuinely blown away and grateful that I received this arc!
Hayden and Alice are adorable. They find each other unexpectedly and are drawn together, experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime love. I swooned at every single moment. I expected nothing less from Ms. Henry.
“‘It’s yours,’ he offers.
I laugh. ‘Oh, I can have the world?’
‘Mine,’ he says, ‘yeah. You can have mine.’”
The intertwined story and mystery of Ms. Ives, the love between Laura and Margaret, really steals the show for me. When everything clicked, my jaw was on the floor! Overall, amazing book, amazing story, and amazing characters! I just bought the physical copy, after receiving an ARC from NetGallery. Thank you so much, and I’m obsessed!
Also, the end! Wink to the title. I cheered.
by Eve B
Emily Henry is an instant buy for me. All of her books make me laugh, kick my feet and shed some tears. I loved the story of Margaret and how it runs alongside Alice and Hayden’s. It reminded me of Beach Read in the best way, which was the first book of hers I read and still my favourite. I loved Hayden and how he represented a universal issue where someone is judged without being known. It was also a great representation of how the media can manipulate a version of a story that in most cases, is not the true one. I deducted a star as there was a level of insta love that I don’t always enjoy but I liked the characters so much I still rooted for them.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin for the arc!
by Angela Matthews
Thought provoking love story that will stay with you. Emily Henry truly has a way with words. 5 stars. Characters that you wish came with an Epilogue.
by Kristin Gleeson
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for a review copy of this novel. Emily Henry is on my list of top authors I will read without even bothering to know beforehand what it’s about. My faith in her abilities to craft a story that I will love is so strong that it’s never a problem. This novel only underpins that faith. Her novels are always the type that you forget you have to make dinner and just rush through the day so that you can get back to reading it.
Alice Scott, a writer whose experience to date has been publishing articles and essays on celebrities for a magazine, is desperate to have her writing taken seriously by others, especially her family who see her accomplishments not really worthy of the family’s literary reputation. When she tracks down an opportunity to write a full length memoir on one of the most reclusive celebrities in recent history, the octogenarian heiress, Margaret Ives, Alice thinks her opportunity has arrived. But upon meeting up with Margaret on a remote Island off the coast of Georgia she discovers that she must compete for the job with Pulitzer Prize winner Hayden Anderson over the period of one month before Margaret will decide who will write it. As Alice and Hayden spend assigned days with Margaret Alice gets only snippets of Margaret’s life and their exchange is at times puzzling and frustrating. Also frustrating and puzzling is Hayden, whose manner comes across as stiff and guarded, until one day Alice is able to peek underneath the hard exterior and comes to understand more and more the person Hayden is. Through the novel the three of them learn things about themselves and each other that will change their outlook completely.
Henry has a finely honed ability to create characters with depth and compassion that draw the reader to them, despite their frailties. The storylines are fresh, often with unique twists that add to the depth and tension while also creating a compelling and thoughtful novel that is both highly enjoyable and relatable. Another wonderful Emily Henry novel to add to my shelf to reread more than once.