Emily Henry Says Writing Great Big Beautiful Life Was ‘Emotional’

Emily Henry’s forthcoming novel, Great Big Beautiful Life, is “different” from the rest.

“What I can tell you about the book is it feels like a spiritual heir to Beach Read but it’s different,” Henry, 33, told Us Weekly exclusively in May. “It feels like my first real departure, but it is still both a love story and a romance.”

Henry announced the name of her highly anticipated book — set to be released in spring 2025 — on Monday, September 9. While she didn’t reveal too much about the plot with Us, the author did offer some teasers about what fans can expect.

“There is still a romance that I think will satisfy the romance readers, but it feels like the first time that the book has led me into kind of different terrain,” she shared. “It also was the first writing experience I’ve had since Beach Read that was really emotional. The first draft poured out of me so quickly, which of course means every other draft is going to be brutal and terrible, but it poured out of me, and it really gripped me in a way that I hadn’t been gripped in a while.”

Henry admitted that makes her “nervous” for the book to come out but said “that’s always a good sign” for its release.

“When you have a book and you’re really scared of it, it means you’re really trying,” she explained. “I would always rather do a big swing and miss than just not try. So, I feel cautiously optimistic about it. I think readers will still be on board, but it’s a slight departure, but there’s still a love story front and center — so I think that will help.”

Of course, the book’s cover is always a big deal. When Henry chatted with Us in May, “cover conversations” had just begun.

“I did have thoughts that we’re sort of pulling from past covers,” the writer teased, noting that they didn’t “really know what’s going to be happening” at the time.

“I have started trying to think forward when we’re designing covers, being like, ‘OK, well what could we play with later based on these colors we’re already using?’ So that’s definitely in the forefront of my and my editor’s minds,” she shared. “We love to overthink everything.”

Henry — a Swiftie — also said in her Grocery List newsletter that Great Big Beautiful Life “closely correlates” to a Taylor Swift song from Folklore.

“I really can’t wait to share it with you. If you’ve been reading these letters for awhile now, you know that this book poured out of me, back in the winter/spring after the longest writing break I’d taken in a full decade,” she also wrote to fans. “You might also have heard me in interviews talk about how hard this book has been since that first draft. (Very.) This book is different than anything I’ve written before but also feels like a really natural extension of what I’ve been doing the last few years.”