Women on the Move: Ann Napolitano

When Ann Napolitano began imagining the four alternately comforting, stifling and forgiving sisters at the heart of her latest novel, Hello Beautiful, she never intended them to become modern doppelgängers of Louisa May Alcott’s March sisters in Little Women. But when she found herself writing a conversation among the four women about which most resembled Jo or Meg, the coincidence became too obvious to ignore.

Yet Hello Beautiful is much more than an homage to the author whose not-so-little women have become five films, four television series, two anime versions and a musical. After all, although she long languished in obscurity as a writer, Napolitano is the author of the blockbuster Dear Edward, an instant New York Times bestseller, now an Apple TV+ series.

And Hello Beautiful is such a stunning exploration of the indomitability of family that after Oprah Winfrey read it, she ended her long search for the 100th selection for her book club and called Ann. “Writers are my rock stars and you’re a rock star,” Winfrey told her.

Join us as we welcome the woman who dazzled Oprah and hear about a book that explores the ageless question: Can love make a person whole?