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  • Hello Beautiful

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Ann Napolitano
  • Narrated by: Maura Tierney
  • Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (105 ratings)

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Hello Beautiful cover art

Hello Beautiful

Written by: Ann Napolitano
Narrated by: Maura Tierney
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Publisher's Summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From the author of Dear Edward comes a “powerfully affecting” (People) family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

“Another tender tearjerker . . . Napolitano chronicles life’s highs and lows with aching precision.”—The Washington Post

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

©2023 Ann Napolitano (P)2023 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Radiant and brilliantly crafted . . . Napolitano’s [work] resists the easy satisfactions of the sentimental and never settles for simple answers to emotional predicaments faced by her characters.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“This sumptuous family saga is one of those rare novels whose singular characters are so beautifully rendered, it’s as if they’re your best friends, and you’re grateful to be in their orbit.”Oprah Quarterly

Hello Beautiful will make you weep buckets because you come to care so deeply about the characters and their fates. . . . [Napolitano] compels us to contemplate the complex tapestry of family love that can, despite grief and loss, still knit us together. She helps us see ourselves—and each other—whole.”—The Washington Post

What listeners say about Hello Beautiful

Average Customer Ratings
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Good story Robotic narration

Overall I enjoyed this book. I did find it dragged in places; narration was robotic

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Was Like Binge Watching a Favorite Show

I love getting immersed in a good tv drama that has several seasons — it’s like it becomes an extension of your day-to-day life and something to look forward to for several weeks until, like all good things, it comes to an end and you have that feeling of loss because the characters have become so real. That’s how this book was for me — I looked forward to listening every day and thought about the characters between listens never wanting the saga to end. Thoroughly enjoyed!

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1 person found this helpful

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Great story

I loved the characters and had many tears at the end. A wonderful study of depression and the effects of parenting.

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1 person found this helpful

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I wept!

Beautiful, generational story. I loved it the whole way through. A mix of “A Little Life” and “Little Women.”

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Di
  • 2023-12-01

Beautifully written

I could hardly stop listening to this well written book. It was emotional, thoughtful and a journey about life and life on life’s terms. Excellent read.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Don’t listen while driving

So boring I only got halfway through. Would not recommend this for driving or you may run off the road when you fall asleep.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Basis with a capital B

So boring. No character development. How it has so many good reviews is beyond me. Barely finished it. Did not care about a single character. Such a basic b book.

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  • Overall
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Heart warming

This was a Heart warming story that spans generations. Can only be described as a really Lovely read! Highly recommend!

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Loved it all!

Felt like I was part of the family. Excellent character development and a great storyline.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hello Beautiful. Well written and Performed.

This is the beautifully written fictional story of the Petavano sisters, chronicling their lives loves and losses. It is a fabulous story for anyone who enjoys basketball, or any other sport that holds the possibility of injury. A well performed and very well written story that warms a reader’s heart and tells of the power of love, heart ache and forgiveness.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2023-03-17

Book was great, performance terrible

I’m familiar with Maura Tierney as an actress, and I’m afraid that’s what she should stick to. She is not a remotely intuitive reader, halting before most all prepositional phrases and reading as if the book was wholly unfamiliar and something she was seeing for the first time. Even though I enjoyed the story very much, there weee times I didn’t think I’d be able to listen to the whole thing.

I hadn’t read Ann Napolitano before. She’s a good storyteller, and I’m certain she’s a gifted writer, despite the performance significantly obscuring the latter.

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45 people found this helpful

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  • Erin H
  • 2023-03-23

Weak women, undeveloped characters

If you are looking for a book where weak women want to sacrifice their lives to fix broken men, then this is for you.
This book holds up The Patriarchy that rules of our lives. These women are concerned with marriage and babies for happiness. Pure drivel. Characters are shallow and underdeveloped. It is completely trauma UN-informed. Save 15 hours of your life and find a book more empowering.

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31 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • justme62
  • 2023-03-17

Starts off great… But drags half way through

I thought I was going to love this book. It drew me in at the beginning, but I couldn’t relate to any of the characters and how they just shut family members out at various stages. About halfway through the book I just couldn’t wait for it to be over. I thought it really started dragging, and I had lost all interest in the boring, depressing characters.

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24 people found this helpful

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  • PattyRosol
  • 2023-03-23

Eh

I had a hard time staying interested in this book. Maura Tierney sounded bored reading it. The characters came off as robotic and emotionless.

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  • Well Read Nana 1/24
  • 2023-03-17

Such a depressing,sad and dis functional family

I enjoyed Dear Edward but I didn’t like this one at all .Sorry Oprah ,I don’t agree with you on this one.This book is about 4 daughters and who they love .Julia the oldest daughter was so unlikeable.The mother Rose so unlikeable.Not only was so many of the characters unlikeable but it was a frustrating read .These once close sisters fractured and it went on for decades .Too much coldness .I know families are very dysfunctional but I don’t really want to spend my free time escaping into more dis function and coldness.The only very exciting part of the book was the last paragraph and then it ended .The narrator’s voice was distant and cold to match the mood of the book ,it made the audible worse .I love a good family drama story but this one was really sad from beginning to end.Depression,terrible parenting except for one .Suicide attempt,illness and death ,just too much.Too sad and too much of one really terrible sister and mother who were so selfish you will just hate them from the beginning of the book to the end .

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20 people found this helpful

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  • Robin Cleavenger
  • 2023-03-26

Loved this

Maura Tierney is an excellent narrator. This was a really good book and she made it better.

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13 people found this helpful

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  • Megan
  • 2023-03-21

Cozy

I'm calling it now, this is my favorite book of 2023. Such a wonderful, layered story of 4 sisters. Yes, some relationships sort of force you to suspend reality, but it's so well-written and the characters are so great (yes, even the REALLY stubborn ones!) that it's worth it. Maura Tierney was the perfect narrator for this story. I looked forward to getting in traffic so I could listen to more of this story. Love, love, loved. Would recommend to people who enjoyed Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had.

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  • beachgirl18
  • 2023-04-25

Don’t bother.

Boring! Wish I could return it. I couldn’t continue listening because I was so bored

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10 people found this helpful

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  • Tamiko B Council
  • 2023-03-16

Wow! Wow! Wow!

So we’ll written, I love? Love it, I have 5 sisters including myself, and the complications that comes with having sister, and a mother who is so dam loud, and opinionated, whom has no boundaries. We can’t hear our own voices over hers, we are so different, but so similar. , but the love we have for one another, 🥹🥹🥰😘😍😊☺️😇

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  • Katherine
  • 2023-03-21

Amazing

This is now among my FAVORITE books! The writing from each character’s perspective was so rich. The references to Little Women were terrific, and I would say these 4 sisters make me think of those of The Poisonwood Bible as well. I listened and really enjoyed the narrator. I’m glad I absorbed this story in this format first, but as I love a shelf of favorite books, I WILL buy a hard copy too!

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8 people found this helpful

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