Ann

Napolitano

New York Times Bestselling Author

Oprah Book Club Pick Novelist

Travels from: New York, NY

“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 was published by Viking Penguin in the United Kingdom in July 2023, and currently has thirty-two international publishers. It was named one of the ten best books of the year by the Chicago Public Library, and one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Amazon, NPR, The Washington Post, Time, Vogue, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Post and others. Hello Beautiful was long-listed for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

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-nine 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 her debut Within Arm’s Reach, which was reissued in April 2024 with a new cover. 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

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