Emily Henry's new romcom proves again she is a formulaic genius
Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry
Viking Fiction, $34.99
EmHens – fans of the American cultural phenomenon Emily Henry – won't be disappointed to learn that her sixth novel, Great Big Beautiful Life, has all the comforting features of her previous books. We have a strong female character whose heart is bigger than her creative ambitions. We have warm, steamy chemistry between the romantic leads. And finally, we are pressed into an idyllic, water-adjacent location of some quaint, American township.
Alice Scott is a thirty-something celebrity journalist who finds herself on a sunny island off Georgia (the US state) to pursue a job of a lifetime – ghostwriting a memoir by a once-infamous socialite. She's determined to seal the deal to win the approval of her mother, who she believes looks down on her daughter's job as a staff writer for The Scratch (think, The Cut).
But Alice's grit is challenged when a competing writer, Hayden Anderson, enters the scene. Hayden is also on the island for the job. In fact, their subject, a recluse octogenarian named Margaret Ives, is offering them a month of access to her to 'audition' for the job. May the best writer win.
Alice isn't intimidated by Hayden's status as a recent Pulitzer Prize winner or his 'large expanse of chest' and 'six foot seven and pure muscle' figure. This 'rigid behemoth of a man' better put in a good fight because Alice is one determined soul.
But the unlikely pair keep having meet-cute run-ins at restaurants and cafes, and soon enough, their mutual attraction is as undeniable as the Georgia heat. There's plenty of sparkling dialogue to keep you flipping the pages. Both romantic leads are well drawn; earnest, fallible yet endearing characters who you could imagine sitting beside at a roadside diner on a Sunday afternoon.
A dual timeline romance operates alongside their succulent, slow-burn flirtation; as Alice learns of Margaret's tabloid-rich love affair 60 years ago with The Boy Wonder of Rock'n'Roll, Cosmo Sinclair (aka, the 'poor man's Elvis') and the secret behind her sudden disappearance from the world after his tragic death. As the heiress of one of the wealthiest, most powerful American families, Margaret's life contained all the foibles and eccentricities that can come with exorbitant wealth.
She danced with Rock Hudson and drank with Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. She was papped on the back of James Dean's motorcycle. But behind the glamour, Margaret's beloved younger sister, Laura, a brilliant, compassionate yet stifled woman, was being pulled into a cult led by a pseudo-wellness guru.
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