Ann Napolitano’s tenderhearted family drama is an exquisite and absorbing read. College student William Waters, who used a basketball scholarship to escape his cold, emotionally neglectful home, falls in love with his spunky classmate Julia Padavano. Soon, William’s drawn into Julia’s close-knit band of sisters: independent Sylvie, creative Cecelia, and nurturing Emeline. Loosely inspired by Little Women, Hello Beautiful opens in the late ’70s and spans the next 30 years, giving us an incredible view of how our most treasured relationships can be tested by our personal choices. As heartbreaking events challenge the Padavano clan’s core belief that family love can overcome anything, we found ourselves reading and reading to find out how these wonderful characters’ lives would pan out.
