Ann

Napolitano

New York Times Bestselling Author

Oprah Book Club Pick Novelist

Travels from: New York City

“Radiant and brilliantly crafted . . . Napolitano’s [work] resists the easy satisfactions of the sentimental and never settles for simple answers to emotional predicaments faced by her characters.” — The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

Ann Napolitano’s novel, Hello Beautiful, was published by Dial Press in March 2023 and was an instant New York Times bestseller and the 100th Oprah Book Club pick. The novel will be published by Viking Penguin in the United Kingdom in July 2023, and currently has twelve international publishers.

Dear Edward was published by Dial Press in January 2020 and was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and was released on February 3rd as an Apple TV+ series starring Connie Britton. The novel currently has twenty-seven international publishers. It was named one of the best books of 2020 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Real Simple, Fast Company, Women’s World, Parade, LibraryReads and Amazon.

Napolitano is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. She was the Associate Editor of One Story literary magazine from 2014-2020. She received an MFA from New York University; she has taught fiction writing for Brooklyn College’s MFA program, New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers’ Workshop. In November 2019, Ann was long-listed for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.

Ann's Featured Titles

Hello Beautiful

The Dial Press |

March 14, 2023

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 when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion 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?

An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

Bestseller, Book Club & Library Favorites, Fiction

Dear Edward

Random House Publishing Group |

February 2, 2021

Fiction

What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?
One summer morning, twelve-year-old Edward Adler, his beloved older brother, his parents, and 183 other passengers board a flight in Newark headed for Los Angeles. Among them are a Wall Street wunderkind, a young woman coming to terms with an unexpected pregnancy, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan, a business tycoon, and a free-spirited woman running away from her controlling husband. Halfway across the country, the plane crashes. Edward is the sole survivor.

Edward’s story captures the attention of the nation, but he struggles to find a place in a world without his family. He continues to feel that a part of himself has been left in the sky, forever tied to the plane and all of his fellow passengers. But then he makes an unexpected discovery—one that will lead him to the answers of some of life’s most profound questions: When you’ve lost everything, how do you find the strength to put one foot in front of the other? How do you learn to feel safe again? How do you find meaning in your life?

Dear Edward is at once a transcendent coming-of-age story, a multidimensional portrait of an unforgettable cast of characters, and a breathtaking illustration of all the ways a broken heart learns to love again.

Bestseller, Book Club & Library Favorites, Fiction, Film & TV Adaptations, Grief & Loss

A Good Hard Look

Penguin Books |

June 26, 2012

Fiction

Forced by illness to leave behind a successful life in New York, literary icon Flannery O’Connor has returned to her family farm in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia. With her health and time both limited, all she wants is to be left alone to write.

But Flannery’s plans are soon upended by Melvin Whiteson, a banker from Manhattan who has recently married the town belle. Melvin is at loose ends with his new life; though he has every opportunity, he’s not sure where to begin. Flannery knows exactly what she wants, but is running out of time. Through their unusual and clandestine friendship, both will come to reflect on the decisions they have made and the paths they have chosen.

Literary history and fiction gracefully intersect in this emotionally charged novel of small town Southern life, which asks us all to consider how we can live our lives to the fullest.

Bestseller, Fiction

Within Arm’s Reach

Three Rivers Press |

June 28, 2005

Fiction

Gracie McLaughlin is an advice columnist who finds it difficult to live by the advice she gives. Within Arm’s Reach follows three generations of the McLaughlins, an Irish Catholic family who is jarred into crisis by Gracie’s unexpected pregnancy. This lyrical first novel is told through six different points of view: the unmarried Gracie, her sister Lila, their parents, their matriarchal grandmother, and a family outsider with a curious connection. As the McLaughlins respond to the profound change in Gracie’s life, their own memories and personal stories begin to emerge.

Ann Napolitano creates a family quilt of sorts, each person’s life and actions closely woven throughout the fabric of the past, present, and future. Within Arm’s Reach is a rich and deeply satisfying narrative of guilt, love, betrayal, and the ultimate loyalty—that of blood.

Bestseller, Fiction

Persistence in the Face of Failure

This is a talk about my path as a writer, through two decades of either total or relative failure before achieving commercial success with Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful. I’m interested in what I learned through failure, how it can be clarifying about what a person really wants, and how to craft a life that’s meaningful through fallow and verdant periods.

Crafting the Writing Life

I’ve taught a four-day online class on this subject. In this talk, I share what I’ve learned about the importance of making careful decisions about my life away from my writing desk, so that I’m capable of her best work when I sit down to write. This talk will include tips on the logistics of choosing and protecting your writing time, being kind to yourself and your work (and what that means), where to focus your attention, and more. It will, hopefully, be helpful and provocative, as you discover and implement your own best practices.

Book discussion on Hello Beautiful

I will talk about the origin of Hello Beautiful, the process of writing the novel–which was unlike the experience of writing my other books–and the subjects I was trying to explore in the novel. I will point out the easter eggs I placed in the novel to litter it with names and references that make the fictional world more personal and meaningful to me.

Connections between Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful

These two novels do share DNA, and there are emotional notes of Dear Edward in Hello Beautiful: grief, kindness, the resiliency of the human spirit, our deep human need for connection. In Dear Edward, a young Edward stepped out of a physical wreckage, and in Hello Beautiful, a young William steps out of an emotional one.

“Hello Beautiful is the work of a great author at the height of her powers. Equally immersive, emotional, and brilliantly crafted, this is an early contender for best novel of the year.” — J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest

“Another tender tearjerker . . . Napolitano chronicles life’s highs and lows with aching precision. In her piercingly tender new novel, Hello Beautiful, best-selling author Ann Napolitano catalogues the multitudes of love and hurt that families contain, and lays bare their powers to both damage and heal. . . . Hello Beautiful will make you weep buckets because you come to care so deeply about the characters and their fates. . . . [Napolitano] compels us to contemplate the complex tapestry of family love that can, despite grief and loss, still knit us together. She helps us see ourselves—and each other—whole.” — The Washington Post

“This sumptuous family saga is one of those rare novels whose singular characters are so beautifully rendered, it’s as if they’re your best friends, and you’re grateful to be in their orbit. Napolitano’s homage to Little Women, albeit set in late-20thcentury Chicago, will prompt you to slow down as you read, never wanting the book to end. When it does, prepare for tears.” — Oprah Quarterly

“Ann Napolitano’s new novel, Hello Beautiful, is exactly that: beautiful, perceptive, wistful. It’s a story of family and friendship, of how the people we are bound to can also set us free. I loved it.” — Miranda Cowley Heller, New York Times bestselling author of The Paper Palace

“This is a story about family and sisters and storytelling, but it’s also an examination of identity and the consequences of doing love badly and how love can be redeemed. Read this book! You’ll be glad you did.” — Therese Anne Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of It All Comes Down to This

“This is a richly woven story about family, but it’s also a unique take on Little Women. There are no heroes or villains here, only people—flawed and loving and striving like the rest of us. ‘Generosity’ is the word that comes to mind when I reflect on this gorgeous novel.” — Allegra Goodman, New York Times bestselling author of The Cookbook Collector and Sam

“A surprisingly uplifting story, full of hope and dry humor, with an underlying, noncloying message about the decency of strangers.” — The New York Times Book Review

“A haunting novel that’s a masterful study in suspense, grief and survival . . . Napolitano’s fearless examination of what took place models a way forward for all of us. She takes care not to sensationalize, presenting even the most harrowing scenes in graceful, understated prose, and gives us a powerful book about living a meaningful life during the most difficult of times.” — The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“Exquisite . . . an insightful and moving testament to the indomitability of the human spirit.” — People

“Ann Napolitano’s new novel is the best book about a young person I’ve read since Emma Donoghue’s Room, and if there’s any justice in the world, it’s going to be a phenomenon: outstanding storytelling, great writing, absolutely The Real Deal.” — John Boyne, bestselling author of The Heart’s Invisible Furies

“Dear Edward isn’t just a beautiful novel, clear-eyed and compassionate even as it pulls us into difficult terrain. It’s an examination of what makes us human, how we survive in this mysterious world, how we take care of each other. It’s the kind of book that forces you to trust that the author, who will break your heart, will also lead you toward something wondrous, something profound. After this brilliant novel, I will follow Ann Napolitano to the ends of the earth.” — Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

“This is a stunning novel of courage and connection in the face of unimaginable loss. It’s beautifully written, with characters so intensely alive you will hold your breath as they break your heart—an extraordinary read.” — Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

“Napolitano weaves Edward’s devastating post-crash experience with heart-pounding chapters set during the final hours and minutes of the flight. Though there’s so much tragedy and loss in this novel, there is also a lot of hope.” — Real Simple, “The Best Books of 2020 (So Far)”

“Stunning . . . In this life-affirming tale, the downright unbearable blossoms into a testament to the power of love and grace.” — Vogue

Ann shares “The Four Tips That Helped Me Write My books”

Ann’s Resources

Ann’s Events

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Dear Edward debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and remained on the list for eight weeks
Hello Beautiful debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list and remains on the list (as of now)
In November 2019, Ann was long-listed for the Simpson/Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize