Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Journalist Alice Scott longs to move from writing features and profiles on minor celebrities to writing a complete biography on someone uber famous. Someone like Margaret Ives, a former media darling who comes from one of the most famous families of the twentieth century. Despite Margaret being in hiding for at least three decades, without any known sightings, Alice thinks she has finally found her. Yes, it will be fun to try something new and grow her skills, but it will have the added bonus of making her mom finally take notice of her work.
Alice is one of the most positive people you will ever meet and she can hardly believe her luck that she has finally managed to track down Margaret. She arrives on Little Crescent Island, Georgia and can hardly wait to convince Margaret to start working with her. That is until she bumps into Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Hayden Anderson as she is leaving Margaret’s house. Now Margaret’s comment about having “a couple of other branches to shake” makes more sense.
Hayden Anderson is a music journalist, but is best known for writing a Pulitzer prize-winning celebrity biography on a famous Americana singer with dementia. Alice cannot believe that she might miss out on this opportunity after spending so much time tracking down Margaret.
Margaret invites both of them to work with her for one month. They will take turns meeting with her, and at the end of the month, they will each have a chance to pitch their idea for the book, then she will choose who she wants to work with.
Neither are happy about having to audition for this opportunity with Margaret, but it’s the chance of a lifetime, so they both agree to move forward. What follows is a month of meetings and competition for the coveted contract. Also during this time, the pair of writers get to know each other better thanks to run-ins at the small town’s local coffee shop and restaurants. Though talking about the book is off limits because they have both signed a NDA.
My favorite part of this novel was Alice’s perpetually upbeat attitude and the story of Margaret’s life. I adore Emily Henry and her books. What a treat to have another one this year!
Review written by: Jeana Gockley, Joplin Public Library Director
Find the book in the catalog.
