One of the perks of being an author is getting advanced copies of forthcoming books, and I’ve gotten an early look at quite a few blockbusters over the years. But no novels have ever elicited prepublication groveling from my friends and family like Emily Henry’s Book Lovers and Happy Place.
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That’s because Emily knows how to craft a love story like the all-time greats. She pulls on the heartstrings. She knocks you over with the perfect ending. And perhaps most spectacularly, she’s the queen of banter. Each of her books is full of devastatingly clever, swoon-inducing repartee.
Her quips call to mind talents like Dorothy Parker and the oft-cited Nora Ephron, but what Emily does is entirely her own. She interrogates the dynamics of romantic comedy within a romantic comedy. She subverts the very tropes she uses. And she gives us flawed, imperfect women to root for. In doing so, she helps us root for ourselves.
Reid is a best-selling author and Emmy-nominated producer
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