The Reading Pantry: Emily Henry Etiquette
A deep dive!
While I don’t personally subscribe to the idea that Emily Henry is a deity in her own right (though she’s close) and could possibly be a direct descendant of both Nancy Meyers and Amy Sherman-Palladino (also quite likely), I do respect her prolific influence on the reading world in the last decade. And I also enjoyed her books.
First, I must know what’s the stamp you give Emily Henry?
Today we’re digging in to the phenomenon that is Emily Henry. She has a new book releasing this month on the 22nd, and as usual, the book world is abuzz. But before we get to that let’s take a little journey through time and space.
Henry’s debut novel, and the two that followed, were Young Adult and of the Magical Realism variety. Her fourth book was a Contemporary Fiction, a Thelma and Louise-type story of two young adults who try to start a new life, breaking free from their awful families after graduation.
After those four books she wrote her first adult/women’s fiction/romance. At the time it was published she said she wanted to “write a book that would ride the line between literary and commercial1.” In this same interview she talked about how the romance genre, and commercial fiction in general, have always been reduced to guilty pleasures and she wanted to challenge that notion. She set out to show that “women’s fiction and romance have a lot of depth to them and evaluate what it means to be a person in the world.”
Her first book in this new territory, Beach Read, was released into a perfect storm. It had been completed for about a year and contemporary romances started popping up. Henry realized that what she’d written might be something readers were looking for. The timing combined with her fresh writing—full of wit, heart and delicious details— launched this first book into high and almost immediate popularity. The book was a NYT Bestseller, was listed in the Indie Next List as well as a few other notable collections.
Henry’s books quickly created a cult-like following with all the cult-like behaviors that come with it. Special editions were released, Henry-specific book clubs and reading nights popped up. Readers eagerly awaited next projects from her and devoured most everything she gave. In every subsequent year following the release of Beach Read she published another book, each one of the women’s fiction/romance variety.
People We Meet on Vacation (2021)
Book Lovers (2022)
Happy Place (2023)
Funny Story (2024)
When asked about experimenting with genre as she took full steps into women’s fiction and romance, Henry shared that she wants “to write in every single genre.” She mused that doing just one thing, even if it would be better for her career, wasn’t something that interested her.
The Stats
As of today, Henry has sold over 2.5 million copies of her books over the last 5 years which is an unbelievable accomplishment.
I, myself, read all of Henry’s books in the last six months of last year. It just so happened that my library gave me three of them at the same time and I owned two others already so I simply had to answer the call to duty. I will now give you some arbitrary yet astute observations and statistics.
My personal ranking of the EmHen novels:
Book Lovers
Funny Story
Beach Read
Happy Place
People We Meet on Vacation
Yes, I used a point system to rank these based on three factors, plot, characters and ending, each category scored out of five and then totaled and the book with the most points went to the top and so on and so forth. If you’ve read any of her books, which is your favorite?
A word I didn’t know that she repeats in every book:
Preternaturally, pre·ter·nat·u·ral. 1: existing outside of nature 2: exceeding what is natural or regular : extroardinary 3: inexplicable by ordinary means
Seriously. It’s in every book. Sometimes twice in some books. It is still difficult for me to pronounce.
One thing that ever so slightly bothered me in the books:
*The only reason I feel like there is any room to critique is because her books are so incredibly well-done. The only way I can describe her writing is tight. There isn’t any fluff, awkward phrasing or writing. So this is my only teeny tiny complaint.
Poor Communication—mostly in Happy Place and People We Meet on Vacation. It was just brushing up against the point of not believable how bad the characters were communicating at times. But that could just be me, a magnificent communicator, feeling that it was unrealistic.
Things I love about all her books:
Immaculate Writing: Henry knows how to write. The flow of story, the structure, the character depth. It’s hard to describe what good writing is. The only way I know how to do it is by observing that I’m so into the story, I’m not thinking about the writing. That means the writing is done so well that it’s not distracting.
The Settings: Henry has honed this craft in the purest sense of the word honed. She can write a setting you can feel, taste, touch, smell and hear. I feel like I’ve been to Palm Springs, Sunshine Falls, Maine, and Michigan because of her.
Some have said that the wit of her characters, the banter, the dialogue is too ‘unrelatable’ or ‘unbelievable.’ But truly, reading her books is like watching a great TV show2. We enjoy sitcoms, romcoms and dramedies because of the fun dialogue and the charactery characters. They are written to make us swoon and laugh and cry. In their worlds, the banter and wit is believable. The same goes for Henry’s worlds and characters she’s created.
Because I read all of her books so quickly I can confidently say that she’s only gotten better with time. And I can’t wait to read this next one, Great Big Beautiful Life. I also must tell you that on the podcast last year, when the title was announced, I made a prediction. I prophesied that she would be trying to move into new territory with this book into something more resembling literary fiction but with her signature style. And based on other people’s reviews that I’ve seen, I was exactly right.
Henry herself even said that this book “feels like [her] first real departure, but it is still both a love story and a romance.3” She went on to say that it feels like a natural extension of what she’s been doing for the last few years.
Great Big Beautiful Life follows two writers as they compete for the chance to ghostwrite the memoir of Margaret, a tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century. Alice and Hayden have both been given sparse snippets of information and a one month trial period to convince Margaret that they’re the perfect fit to write the book. But it becomes abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.
My Final Thoughts
I have regretted an overflowing handful of romances and women’s fiction that I’ve read, but I don’t regret reading a single Emily Henry. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the last book I read of hers, Book Lovers.
“You’re always making decisions, taking paths that lead you away from the rest before you can see where they end. Maybe that’s why we as a species love stories so much. All those chances for do-overs, opportunities to live the lives we’ll never have.”
To shop Henry’s books follow the links below:
Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Libro.FM | Amazon
Magazine, The London. “Interview | Emily Henry on “Beach Read” and Writing Romance - the London Magazine.” The London Magazine, 13 Aug. 2020, thelondonmagazine.org/interview-emily-henry-on-beach-read-and-writing-romance/.
Sidenote: All of Emily Henry’s books, other than this new release, have been optioned for the screen either as a series or a film! Exciting! I think her books will translate really well to the screen so I’m thrilled. I think the first to be released will be People We Meet on Vacation.
Stivale, Shelby. “Emily Henry Says Writing Great Big Beautiful Life Was “Emotional.”” Us Weekly, 10 Sept. 2024, www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/emily-henry-says-writing-great-big-beautiful-life-was-emotional/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
I listened to the first two chapters of her new book yesterday and I just don't know if it's going to be for me. Putting it away for now. A word she repeats that drives me nuts in guffaw!