The following edition was used to create this guide: Henry, Emily. Great Big Beautiful Life. Penguin Random House (Berkeley), 2025.

Emily Henry’s Great Big Beautiful Life follows Alice Scott. Alice is a young journalist who travels to coastal Georgia to interview reclusive Hollywood icon Margaret Ives for what Alice hopes will be her big break, a career-defining biography. The story unfolds as a blend of romance, mystery, and inter-generational drama, structured around Alice’s growing attachment to Margaret and to Hayden Anderson, a fellow writer also vying for the project.

At first, Alice sees Margaret as a fascinating but distant subject—a woman who withdrew from public life after the tragic death of her husband, famed musician Cosmo Sinclair. Through a series of interviews, Alice begins to uncover hidden truths about the Ives family. The truths included long-buried scandals, family secrets, and an unspoken grief that has shaped Margaret’s life. Meanwhile, , despite the professional rivalry between Alice and Hayden, their relationship deepens into love.

As the chapters progress, Alice discovers unsettling coincidences. For instance, Hayden’s mother shares a name—Nicollet—with the hotel that once defined the Ives empire. This revelation leads Alice to suspect that Hayden’s family may be linked to Margaret’s past. In a climactic confrontation, Margaret confesses that after Cosmo’s death, she secretly gave birth to a daughter named Nicollet, whom she gave up for adoption to protect the child from fame. It turns out that the daughter is Hayden’s mother. Thus, Hayden is Margaret’s grandson.

The revelation shatters Alice and Hayden’s relationship and forces Alice to confront her own ethics as a journalist. Bound by a non-disclosure agreement, she cannot tell Hayden the truth. Yet, keeping silent feels like betrayal. She leaves Georgia, retreats to her mother’s rural home, and begins to rebuild her life—reconnecting with family, gardening, and recording her mother’s memories of her departed husband (Alice's father).

Eventually, Alice writes to Margaret, urging her to tell Hayden the truth. Margaret does by sending both Alice's letter and her own letter to him. The novel ends with reconciliation and renewal. Hayden travels to Georgia, confessing his love for Alice and choosing to stay. An epilogue flashes forward to their life together. They are married and have a daughter named Laura Grace. The family lives near Margaret and Alice's mother. Alice begins writing her own memoir, reflecting the book’s central message that love, truth, and storytelling can transform even the most fractured lives into something whole and beautiful.