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Reading lists

Books to read if you love The Bear

Now a Major new TV series with Apple TV

Dear Edward

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, SOON TO BE A MAJOR TV SERIES 
 
It's not what you've lost . . . it's what you've found. 
 
One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles: there are 192 people aboard. When the plane suddenly crashes, twelve-year-old Edward Adler is the sole survivor. 
 
In the aftermath, Edward struggles to make sense of his grief, sudden fame and find his place in a world without his family. But then Edward and his neighbour Shay make a startling discovery; hidden in his uncle's garage are letters from the relatives of other passengers - all addressed him. 
 
Following the passengers' final hours and Edward's unique coming-of-age, Dear Edward asks one of life's most profound questions: 
 
What does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live? 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
'Ann Napolitano's writing is astonishing. I'm in awe' Marian Keyes 
 
'A very moving and emotional read' Anne Tyler 
 
'Gripping and elegiac, this is a captivating novel about loss, love and growing up' Rosamund Lupton 
 
'That rare book that breaks your heart and stitches it back together . . . Don't miss this one' Jodi Picoult

A powerful book about living a meaningful life during the most difficult of times

Outstanding, beautifully written, a compulsive read

That rare book that breaks your heart and stitches it back together . . . Don't miss this one

Gripping... a captivating novel about loss, love and growing up

Wonderful... a beautifully written coming-of-age story

Dear Edward made me think, nod in recognition, care about its characters, and cry, and you can't ask more of a novel than that

Ann Napolitano is the author of Dear Edward, which was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and is now an Apple TV+ series. She is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. For seven years, Napolitano was the associate editor of the literary magazine One Story, and she received an MFA from New York University. She has taught fiction writing at Brooklyn College’s MFA program, New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and Gotham Writers Workshop. Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers' Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

One summer morning, a flight takes off from New York to Los Angeles: there are 192 people aboard. When the plane suddenly crashes, twelve-year-old Edward Adler is the sole survivor. 
 
In the aftermath, Edward struggles to make sense of his grief, sudden fame and find his place in a world without his family. But then Edward and his neighbour Shay make a startling discovery; hidden in his uncle's garage are letters from the relatives of other passengers - all addressed him. 
 
Following the passengers' final hours and Edward's unique coming-of-age, Dear Edward asks one of life's most profound questions: what does it mean not just to survive, but to truly live?

Maybe Everything

A PROFOUNDLY MOVING AND PROPULSIVE NEW NOVEL FROM THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HELLO BEAUTIFUL 
 
‘ANN NAPOLITANO’S WRITING IS ASTONISHING’ Marian Keyes 
 
‘There was a June afternoon in 1959—an afternoon that glittered with summer sunlight—when everything started. Rome Leone and his best friend Gus were standing in the middle of a forest in Halsey, New Jersey, and Rome was telling his friend that a road was going to be built where they stood. A cul-de-sac with six houses on it. One of the houses, Rome said, would be for him, Clara and Mark, and one would be for Gus. 
 
“A cul-de-sac is the safest place to raise a family, after all.” Rome was beaming, though he looked unsteady standing in his loafers on a set of tree roots. “We’ll raise our kids in this beautiful spot, Gus. Can you imagine?”

Ann Napolitano is the author of Dear Edward, which was an instant New York Times bestseller, a Read with Jenna selection, and is now an Apple TV+ series. She is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. For seven years, Napolitano was the associate editor of the literary magazine One Story, and she received an MFA from New York University. She has taught fiction writing at Brooklyn College’s MFA program, New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and Gotham Writers Workshop. Professional Studies and for Gotham Writers' Workshop. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

‘There was a June afternoon in 1959—an afternoon that glittered with summer sunlight—when everything started. Rome Leone and his best friend Gus were standing in the middle of a forest in Halsey, New Jersey, and Rome was telling his friend that a road was going to be built where they stood. A cul-de-sac with six houses on it. One of the houses, Rome said, would be for him, Clara and Mark, and one would be for Gus. 
 
“A cul-de-sac is the safest place to raise a family, after all.” Rome was beaming, though he looked unsteady standing in his loafers on a set of tree roots. “We’ll raise our kids in this beautiful spot, Gus. Can you imagine?”

Ann Napolitano

Napolitano's prose is so lovely, so keenly perceptive, that it held me captive until I finished

Mary Beth Keane, New York Times bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes

Marian Keyes, Sunday Times bestselling author of Again, Rachel

A profoundly moving and propulsive novel of the deepest connections of family and love, trauma and healing. A book to treasure and share with friends and loved ones

Angie Kim, bestselling author of Miracle Creek

This powerfully affecting novel illustrates [that] love and luck don't always intertwine

This is a story about family, and sisters... and how love can be redeemed

Therese Anne Fowler, author of It All Comes Down to This

Beautiful, perceptive, wistful. I loved it

Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace

Ann Napolitano's writing is astonishing

As addictive as last year's The Paper Palace

I read this while traveling from London to Manchester and very nearly missed my stop on the train. It was that good

A novel of rare yet classic beauty…

Napolitano’s luminously beautiful novel explores the space between truth and self-delusion to incredibly moving effect

Best friends and sisters, the four Padavano girls bring loving chaos to their close-knit Italian American neighbourhood. William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So, when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano, it's as if the world has lit up around him. 
 
With Julia comes her family: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. But when darkness from William's past begins to block the light of his future, it is Sylvie, not Julia, who becomes his closest confidante. The result is a catastrophic rift that leaves the family inhabiting two sides of a fault line. 
 
Can they find their way back to each other? Can love make a broken family whole?

Ann Napolitano

Books by Ann Napolitano

Articles featuring Ann Napolitano

Books to read if you love The Bear

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