Great Big Beautiful Life

Great Big Beautiful Life (2025) by Emily Henry is a genre-bending novel that weaves romance, mystery, and emotional revelation together while exploring themes related to truth, ambition, and loss. When rising journalist Alice uncovers the secret location of reclusive heiress Margaret Ives, she’s pulled into a hidden history of love, loss, and familial legacy. Assigned to cover the story alongside Hayden, a sharp, emotionally guarded rival, Alice must navigate professional tension, unresolved grief, and a slow-building intimacy that threatens to derail her competitive exploits. The past and present collide as Alice is compelled to reexamine her reasons for becoming a journalist through hearing Margaret’s story.

Emily Henry is a best-selling author of beloved contemporary romances, including Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, Book Lovers, Happy Place, and Funny Story. Henry’s books have become bestsellers, and some are being adapted for the screen.

This guide refers to the 2025 Berkley e-book edition of Great Big Beautiful Life.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of mental illness, illness and death, and sexual content.

Plot Summary

Alice is a journalist who lives in Los Angeles and works for The Scratch. As a lifelong fan of Margaret Ives, when Alice gets an anonymous tip that the reclusive woman is residing on Little Crescent Island, Alice takes a chance and calls her to ask for an interview. Margaret invites Alice to Little Crescent to interview for the chance to write her biography. This is Alice’s dream job, and she jumps at the chance to prove to herself, her mom, and the world that she can do serious journalism.

When she arrives, she learns that Margaret has invited Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hayden to interview for the job, too. Margaret will make her choice at the end of a one-month paid trial period. Each journalist must sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which prevents them from sharing what they learn. Hayden is initially unfriendly and overly confident in his ability to win the job. Alice chooses to remain optimistic about Hayden and not write him off completely.

Little Crescent Island is small and isolated, so Hayden and Alice encounter each other often. Slowly, they develop a friendship, though it’s guarded because Hayden is committed to adhering to the rules and won’t discuss Margaret with Alice. Alice is intrigued by Hayden and finds herself attracted to his honesty, his handsome face, and the fact that he’s taller than her (since she’s 5’9”). They run into each other at a local restaurant and end up sharing dinner, and after he walks her home, he kisses her. He quickly pulls away, reminding her about their professional boundaries, though Alice is more than willing to cross them.

Meanwhile, Alice begins interviewing Margaret at her home. Margaret was born into one of the most storied and scandalous families of the 20th century, and during her time with Alice, she unravels 100 years of family history. Her family’s prominence in the media industry placed her in the public eye from a young age, earning her the moniker “Tabloid Princess.” Margaret and her sister Laura’s youth was magical and marked by high-profile events and relationships that kept them in the tabloids, including her grandfather’s extramarital affair and her mother’s filmmaking career.

Margaret’s charisma and the intrigue surrounding her family’s legacy made her a subject of public fascination, which she initially enjoyed. In her twenties, she married Cosmo Sinclair, a rock star whose relationship captured both fan and media attention. However, the pressures of fame strained their relationship. After personal tragedies, including her sister’s becoming involved in a cult and Cosmo’s tragic death, Margaret withdrew from public life. She retreated to Little Crescent Island, where she lived in near-complete isolation with Laura and her daughter, Jodi.

Despite Margaret’s forthrightness about much of her troubled past, both Hayden and Alice suspect that she’s withholding something. Alice, in particular, is interested in Margaret’s mosaic art, one piece which she names Nicollet, the middle name of her grandfather’s child, who resulted from an affair.

Hayden and Alice bond over their complicated family dynamics. Hayden’s father is a politician, and he grew up in the public spotlight. Alice’s sister, Audrey, was sick when she was young. Her father recently died, and Alice has a strained relationship with her mother, Angie. Alice believes that Angie disapproves of her journalism career. Alice invites Hayden to come with her to visit her mom, and after witnessing their complex relationship, he encourages Alice to talk to her mom.

Hayden and Alice become intimate and express their love. He turns down the opportunity to write the book to give Alice the advantage and preserve their connection. However, Alice learns that Nicollet is Hayden’s mother’s name and, instead of pitching the book, demands the truth from Margaret. Margaret reveals that she was pregnant when Cosmo died but gave up the baby girl, whom she named Nicollet, for adoption to avoid exposing her to the family’s chaotic life. Hayden is Margaret’s grandson, and she made up the biography writing competition to get him to come to Little Crescent so that she could meet him. Alice is furious and demands that Margaret tell Hayden the truth, but she refuses. Alice can’t tell him because of the NDA, so she breaks off their relationship and stays with her mom.

Angie and Alice reconcile their differences and grow closer during Alice’s stay on the island. Alice writes Margaret a letter asking her again to tell Hayden the truth because she loves him and wants him to know. Hayden comes to Alice with the letter in hand, asking if it’s true that she loves him. Margaret wrote to him, telling him the truth and including Alice’s letter. Alice declares her love, and they kiss. She wants to stay in Georgia to be close to her mom, so he quits his job in New York and moves to Atlanta. They visit Margaret often and collaborate to write her biography. Alice gives birth to a baby girl, and they name her Laura. Alice begins working on a memoir of her family, focusing on her parents’ lives and what they taught her.