24-04-2025
Taylor Swift's Rhode Island house inspired Emily Henry's book 'Great Big Beautiful Life'
Talk about an invisible string: Emily Henry's newest book was inspired in part by Taylor Swift's home in Rhode Island.
The New York Times bestselling author's latest novel, "Great Big Beautiful Life," was released this week. The book follows Alice and Hayden, two journalists vying for the chance to write a blockbuster celebrity memoir.
The "Beach Read" author revealed in a recent interview that she drew the story from several real-life tales, including Swift's 2020 song "the last great american dynasty," which is about her Westerly mansion's previous owner, Rebekah Harkness.
In an interview with E! News this week, Henry said she developed one of the novel's central characters, Margaret, as a reclusive media heiress based on Harkness, the socialite in Swift's song.
'I love that song, and love the story behind it,' she told the outlet. 'Every once in a while I find myself back on the Wikipedia page, just reading through. I just find those kinds of larger-than-life families really, really intriguing.'
She said she also drew on inspiration from other famous families, like the British royals and the Kennedys.
'What interests me about those families is this sense that this legacy gets passed down from generation to generation, and with that comes a ton of privilege and experiences that the average person doesn't have access to," she said.
Swift purchased a waterfront mansion nicknamed Holiday House in Westerly's Watch Hill neighborhood for $17.75 million in 2013.
In years past, Swift has been known to host her famous friends at the 11,000-square-foot home, including for several Independence Day bashes. Last summer, she was reported to have hosted boyfriend Travis Kelce, his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes at the mansion.
Her song, "the last great american dynasty" on her 2020 album "folklore," which won Album of the Year at the Grammy's, is about the home.
She sings of Harkness, a socialite who owned the home in the 20th century, and herself as "the maddest woman this town has ever seen."
Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network - New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at MKhan@
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Taylor Swift's RI home inspired Emily Henry's 'Great Big Beautiful Life'
