Hello Beautiful
by Ann Napolitano
The Dial Press, 2023. 387 pages. Historical Fiction

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less Love him. So it's a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her Family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer; Cecelia, the family's artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia's new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household. But then darkness from William's past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia's carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters' unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Napolitano writes with beautiful prose that you just want to revel in for a while. I initially didn't pick this book up because I knew it would be sad (trigger warning for a suicide attempt), but I'm so glad that I finally convinced myself to read it. Starting in the late 1970s and spanning through the 1990s, this book is an homage to the love of sisters and friends and to the strength people can gain from a strong support system. It's also a subtle tribute to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. If you appreciate character-driven stories of families and quiet tales of domestic drama, I highly recommend this book.

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In the Spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Family Lore
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Ecco, 2023. 371 pages. Fiction

Flor has a gift: she can predict, to the day, when someone will die. So when she decides she wants a living wake—a party to bring her family and community together to celebrate the long life she’s led—her sisters are surprised. Has Flor foreseen her own death, or someone else’s? Does she have other motives? She refuses to tell her sisters, Matilde, Pastora, and Camila. But Flor isn’t the only person with secrets: her sisters are hiding things, too. And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their own. 

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