William Waters’s birth is followed almost immediately by the death of his older sister, a shocking loss which traumatizes his parents and leaves unwilling or unable to raise their son with any love or affection. Finding consolation on the basketball court, William eventually makes his way to Northwestern University on an athletic scholarship. There he meets, or more accurately, is confronted by, Julia Padavano, a fellow student who has taken a fancy to him and has decided they should date. Before Will knows what has hit him, he’s met her three sisters, dreamy Syvlie, artsy Cecilia, and the self-sacrificing Emeline. Overwhelmed by the closeness of the Padavano family, William soon finds himself practically bulldozed into a wedding, a baby, and the graduate program in history Julia has picked out for him. (She likes the idea of being married to a professor.)
When William belatedly realizes that his life is not his own, and is not only not making him happy, but in fact making him miserable, he makes a decision with far-reaching consequences for himself and all the Padavano sisters. Napolitano’s book explores the question of whether their sisterly bond can survive the trials and tribulations of adult life, subjecting them to the most extreme tests imaginable. To say more would be to spoil too much for the reader.
Napolitano has some enviable strengths as a writer. She can make a character feel like a complete, complex person. However, her gifts are unequally distributed, which is a real detriment to the novel. Julia Padavano is a remarkable creation. So fully realized that it becomes possible for the reader to agonize with her while also chastising her for her actions like one might with a short-sighted friend. Her sister Sylvie is nearly as well-developed, with her inane romanticism crashing against the reality of actual human attraction making her a compelling figure. But compared to those two, the ensemble gets short shrift. Half of the Padavano sisters are essentially just there, with no real impact on the plot. Worse still, William is a dull cypher, making all the fuss kicked up around him seem nonsensical.
No matter how good the prose, or how surprising the developments, I just couldn’t credit anything that happened in Hello, Beautiful due to this imbalance in characterization. Everything just felt off as a result, hampering my ability to enjoy the book at all.