A Hollywood idol. The Virgin Mary. An everyday girl from Hull.
Three women, three eras, surprising things in common...
On 4th August 1962, the night she should have died, Marilyn Monroe – the biggest star in the world – receives a visitor who changes the course of her destiny. The Virgin Mary appears in her kitchen with a curious message. Inspired, Marilyn abandons her home, her life, her fame, and disappears into the night…
Fifty-four years later, in a Hull kitchen, Flora Baker finds Mary, bathed in light. She has a similar message for the working class woman who is on the poverty line and dreaming of a better life. Flora begins to make changes that impact not only her life but the lives of those around her…
Do Marilyn and Flora have more in common than just Mary’s visit? Are they somehow linked across time? And is Mary’s message for all the women of the world?
Wonderful is about the way women are portrayed in both history and the world of celebrity, about women not being quiet, and about women united by the shared stories that shape them.
Wonderful by Louise Beech is published by Pick Lock Publishing on 1 June 2026 - this would have been Marilyn Monroe's 100th Birthday.
I have read every book that Louise Beech has had published. She is the queen of the cross genre; her books cannot really be categorised ; her stories range from crime thrillers, family sagas, gay love story, dystopia and also her own memoir.
Wonderful is another novel that we cannot put into a box. It's a literary tale of two women, with a touch of recent history and a sprinkle of magical realism. The premise is intriguing and the entire novels read as a homage to Marilyn, and that's what it is. The author's love for this Hollywood icon shines through in the writing, but it's not just about Marilyn, it's also a story of the ordinary woman - and how despite fame and stature, women share so many experiences and feelings.
From the opening pages, there’s an almost dreamlike quality to the storytelling. Marilyn Monroe is depicted not as the glittering icon the world thinks it knows, but as a vulnerable woman desperate for escape, peace and understanding. She is written with warmth and humanity, we see through the layers of fame and find someone so lonely and searching for more in life. The historical detail woven through Marilyn’s sections are beautifully and perfectly structured, and it is so easy to become emotionally invested in her story.
Alongside Marilyn is Flora, living a very different life in Hull years later. Flora’s struggles feel so real and relevant to the current times. There are financial worries and complicated family dynamics. You could almost see parts of yourself in Flora.
What makes Wonderful really shine is the way Louise Beech explores womanhood and identity, and connections. There's magic running throughout the novel, but it never overshadows the reality and emotions. Instead, these aspects enhance the story’s warmth and sense of possibility. She deals with themes of reinvention, resilience and compassion through the narrative, giving the novel real emotional depth.
The writing is, as always, so atmospheric and emotionally intelligent. She has a remarkable understanding of human vulnerability and writes with such empathy that even the smallest moments mean so much. There are scenes here that linger long after the final page, not because they are dramatic, but because I felt them in my heart.
Wonderful is exactly that; original, moving and filled with hope. It is a novel that invites readers to look beyond appearances and reminds us that even the most ordinary lives can contain something extraordinary.
Her debut, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ Pick; The Lion Tamer Who Lost shortlisted for the Romantic Novel Awards 2019 and longlisted for the Polari Prize that same year; Call Me Star Girl was Best magazine’s Book of the Year; This Is How We Are Human was a Clare Mackintosh Book Club pick; and audiobook Daffodils shortlisted for the Audies23.
Wonderful, which imagines if Marilyn Monroe had lived, is released on Marilyn's 100th birthday, 1st June 2026.
Louise's dystopian thrillers, End of Story and Lights Out, are written as Louise Swanson.
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