Pals to lovers. Enemies to lovers. Emily Henry has written all of it.
And shortly, these lovers will probably be coming to a display close to you.
Henry has grow to be the grasp of the modern romance novel, publishing six New York Instances bestsellers within the style since 2020. Now, 5 are being tailored for the large and small screens.
Henry’s devoted fan base has grown and morphed with every launch. Some have been obsessive readers of hers since 2020’s “Beach Read.” Others choose Henry’s “People We Meet on Vacation” (2021) or “Happy Place” (2023) — angsty books filled with longing and unrequited love. One other camp swoons for lighter fare like “Book Lovers” (2022) and “Funny Story” (2024).
The readers who’ve nicknamed her “EmHen” have in all probability learn all of them.
Henry grew up in Ohio with childhood aspirations to be a author. She attended Hope School in Michigan on a artistic writing scholarship and shortly after accomplished a writers residency on the New York Middle for Artwork & Media Research. She printed her debut novel, a young-adult ebook, in 2016 and wrote three extra YA books earlier than switching to romance.
“When I was younger, I was very much a romantic,” Henry advised The Instances. She gravitates to romance “to get back to that place of hopefulness, and affirm the beauty and magic and meaningfulness of life.”
Henry, now 34 and writing from her residence in Cincinnati, affirms these values for her readers as effectively.
“I have continued to try to do the same kind of thing every time, which is write an authentic love story about two imperfect people,” Henry stated.
For Henry, character is crucial factor. Clever and career-driven girls function her protagonists and narrators. All of them “have something about themselves they are afraid of and aren’t really able to accept,” Henry stated. She needs to assist readers interrogate labels and fears they place on themselves, “especially as women, of not being the ‘right kind’ of woman.”
Henry has a powerful sense of this amorphous female determine.
“She’s good at her job, but her house is also really clean, and she’s really naturally kind of stylish. Her apartment is beautifully decorated and she has cool, interesting clothes, but she’s not trying hard. She’s fit, but again, she likes to eat, and she’s not working that hard to be fit, it’s just kind of happening …” and the checklist of inconceivable requirements continues.
Emily Henry lives and writes from her residence in Cincinnati.
(Jared Wickerham / For The Instances)
Coming from a proud romance author nearly all of whose readership is girls, Henry’s work rejects this completely. To Henry, studying about flawless characters “doesn’t necessarily connect with us on that deeper level. And then beyond that, I don’t know that we even find it that attractive.” Actually loving somebody means appreciating their idiosyncrasies, like “their little 11 line or a little crooked tooth — these little imperfections that become so beautiful to you.”
Henry’s lead male love pursuits are normally rougher across the edges. Whether or not the romantic leads begin out as rivals, exes or full-blown enemies, they discover themselves deeply in love by the tip.
Henry’s books have related with thousands and thousands of individuals — and her soon-to-be cinematic universe is certain to succeed in thousands and thousands extra.
Henry’s ascendance, and her books’ diversifications, align with a altering publishing panorama. Gross sales of romances proceed to growth, whilst total ebook revenues decline. On the identical time, Hollywood has turned its again on romantic comedies. Because the trade divests from the style, these tales, together with a few of Henry’s, have migrated to streaming platforms.
Earlier than “Beach Read” got here out in 2020, a ebook scout approached Henry with an concept for an adaptation. “At that point, you know, my name didn’t have any kind of gravity to it. It wasn’t like I was going to go out into Hollywood and make a million dollars,” Henry stated. That adaptation didn’t get made. However then “Beach Read” turned a bestseller. The next 12 months, the novel “People We Meet on Vacation” adopted swimsuit, shifting 2 million copies within the U.S.
“People We Meet on Vacation” is the primary of Henry’s motion pictures in manufacturing. The movie stars Emily Bader as Poppy and Tom Blyth as Alex, unlikely finest pals residing aside however anchoring their friendship with a trip in a brand new lovely vacation spot every summer time. The movie, directed by Brett Haley and produced by Sony’s 3000 Footage, will probably be launched Jan. 9 on Netflix.
“I remember looking at [the story] and feeling like there were more locations than a James Bond movie,” stated Yulin Kuang, who wrote the primary draft of the script. Henry stated a working joke on set was that “we have to make a James Bond movie with a romantic comedy budget.”
Kuang launched her debut novel, “How to End a Love Story,” in 2024. The romance follows an writer and screenwriter thrust collectively in a Hollywood writers room.
Kuang has come to adore Henry’s work, however not like most of Henry’s followers, she didn’t uncover the books organically. As an alternative, it was like Hollywood and the publishing world set the 2 up on a blind date. To Kuang, each industries appeared to say, “You two seem to have a similar vibe. You guys should meet.” After they did, Kuang realized that “there is something there that I feel a kinship to.” Kuang may even adapt and direct the movie adaptation of “Beach Read” for twentieth Century Studios. “I want to make something that feels smart, fun and romantic,” she stated, “because I think that’s what the book is.”
The “Book Lovers” movie from Tango Leisure will probably be written by “Girls” author and producer Sarah Heyward. Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions is adapting “Happy Place” right into a Netflix TV sequence co-written and showrun by “Bridgerton” co-executive producer Leila Cohan. Lyrical Media and Ryder Image Co. are teaming as much as adapt “Funny Story”; Henry is writing the screenplay for the film herself.
“It’s so fun adapting your own book because you already know it so deeply and intimately. It’s like you’re just thinking about your favorite parts,” Henry stated. It has additionally been an train in rewriting — she’s in a position to slot in funnier jokes than she’d initially considered years in the past; typically, she tries to unravel an issue within the script and realizes that she had tried that the primary time. “It did give me a little bit of a bug,” Henry stated, “I want to keep doing this.”
Henry stated she would additionally like to jot down the screenplay for her most up-to-date novel, “Great Big Beautiful Life.” The ebook, which got here out in April, follows two journalists competing for a dream job. Regardless of its bestseller standing, there hasn’t been a rush to set the story up for the display. She’s hoping the discharge of “People We Meet on Vacation” will present “leverage” when it comes time to adapt her newest ebook.
“Just it happening was not the goal. It happening and being good was the goal. And luckily, I think [‘People We Meet on Vacation’] is very good,” she stated in regards to the adaptation.
Henry’s fundamental position within the improvement course of is to behave as a guide on what her readers will and gained’t like within the movie, together with their dealbreakers. EmHen readers are a vocal fan base — many share ebook rankings and casting opinions on-line. Typically, she stated, her readers bear in mind her work higher than she does. Henry’s pals prefer to ship her their favourite takes. “My friends are just obsessed with my readers,” she stated, “and the feeling is shared. I feel that way too.”
After all, Henry and her viewers share a love of affection, and a love of books. “I know my readers because they’re like me in some way,” Henry stated.
Emily Henry says she gravitates to romance books “to affirm the beauty and magic and meaningfulness of life.”
(Jared Wickerham / For The Instances)
It’s no coincidence that the majority of Henry’s feminine leads, and most of the love pursuits, are “book people.” Henry writes about novelists, literary brokers and librarians. Typically, she stated “my readers are just big readers. … I think they can see themselves in characters who love books because they love books.”
Having her novels tailored into motion pictures like those she grew up watching seems like a dream realized.
Henry stated she hopes “Happy Place” seems like a Nancy Meyers film and “Book Lovers” seems like “You’ve Got Mail.” Henry and Kuang agree that “Beach Read” ought to have a “Notting Hill” vibe. General, she needs to seize each the humor and heightened actuality of a Nora Ephron film.
Henry is aware of that devoted readers are likely to have excessive expectations for book-to-screen diversifications. She stated she discovered peace in the truth that “readers who love the movie will now have the movie and the book, and the readers who don’t care for the movie will still have the book.”
From her residence metropolis of Cincinnati to readers across the globe — and now Hollywood — the EmHen universe is getting greater by the day.
“Emily is so smart and great at what she does,” stated Kuang. “It’s a really exciting time to be a romance fan in this town.”
