Major spoilers for Great Big Beautiful Life ahead.
Emily Henry isn’t afraid to deliver a major third act twist. But the question remains…are you ready for it?
Throughout the author’s newest novel Great Big Beautiful Life (out now), entertainment journalist Alice Scott is up against Pulitzer Prize-winning music writer-turned-biographer Hayden Anderson for the chance to write the definitive biographer of media heiress turned recluse Margaret Ives.
However, amid their monthlong auditions, during which the writers begin a summer romance, it becomes clear that Margaret is keeping a big secret. Namely, the real reason behind Margaret’s apparent biography: She wanted to get to know Hayden, her grandson who is unaware of their relation.
In the explosive confrontation with Margaret, Alice learns her dream never existed (her involvement was simply to lend legitimacy to the ruse) and thanks to a nondisclosure agreement, her relationship with Hayden is over before it really began. And for Henry, this sort of earth-shattering revelation was there from the start.
“I knew that from the beginning,” the novelist revealed to E! News in an exclusive interview, “even before I fully understood why she kept Alice around.”