“Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano is an engrossing journey that follows the lives of four sisters in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago from the 1980s to modern day.
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It is meant to be an updated version of “Little Women” but written for adults.
The sisters in the book even mention “Little Women” several times in a nod to the original.
The book opens with the four close sisters as teens and their parents.
The eldest sister, Julia, is very driven and single-minded in pursuing her perfect life.
She falls for a docile man from a sad upbringing whom she feels she can help and mold.
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At first, he is willing to go along with her plans, seeing it as a way to maintain relationships with her close-knit family and gift his life direction.
Next is bookish Sylvie, who is a little less sure of her trajectory but is a big fan of romantic love.
While working as a page at the neighborhood library, Sylvie tests her kissing skills with a couple of random male classmates in the library aisles, practicing for the eventual appearance of her own Prince Charming.
There is also creative Cecelia and nurturing Emmeline.
Their father, a dreamer, and their mother, the less nurturing but more practical parent, round out the loving family.
The sudden death of the father and the birth of an unplanned baby to a teenage sister start to break up the family.
Amid the upheaval, each girl decides which lifeboat to cling to and which to jettison.
Initially, their paths appear straightforward, but it quickly becomes apparent that there is a monkey wrench thrown into each.
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The lives they envisioned are not going to happen, and at that point, the reader is locked in for the ride.
I found myself conflicted as to who to cheer for and trying to decide how I would approach the various sticky situations that each sister finds themselves in.
I was hoping for an eventual sisterly closeness to re-emerge, but it is by no means a sure thing as their lives continue to go on their messy courses.
I was not a huge fan of “Little Women,” but I definitely enjoyed following these sisters and their trials and tribulations.
It felt more realistic, and the characters ended up being more nuanced than they first appeared.
This would be a great book for a book club or for sisters to read and discuss.
I think you will be thinking about these characters for some time after you finish this thought-provoking book.