My enormous thanks to lovely Louise Beech for sending me an early copy of her latest novel, Wonderful. I’ve been sitting on my review for ages and although it’s still rather early, I can’t wait any longer to share my thoughts.

Louise has featured here on Linda’s Book Bag many times both as Louise Beech and as Louise Swanson and I always love her books. 

Wonderful is published by Pick Lock on 1st June 2026 and is available for purchase here. 

Wonderful

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.

My Review of Wonderful

Three women mysteriously linked across time…

If I’m absolutely honest, I found the premise of Marilyn Monroe, the Virgin Mary and a poverty-stricken young woman from Hull, Flora, being linked in a narrative rather unlikely. I was wrong! Wonderful is exactly as the title suggests because Louise Beech brings her incredible skill in uniting them. I so enjoyed the plot and its resolution was incredibly deftly handled – but you need to read Wonderful to discover how!

Wonderful can be read on so many levels. Firstly there is the meticulously researched and brilliantly woven historical detail about the real person who was Marilyn Monroe. Like many who rely on what the media tells us, I thought I knew her, but I learnt so much from this story. Indeed, one of the points of the narrative is that we create ideas of others in our minds without truly understanding what has happened in a person’s life. This reality adds depth and credence to the ‘what if’ creativity that imagines what her life may have been like and who she might have become had she not died. On just this level the story is highly entertaining. 

A fine balance is presented between being an icon and universally accepted iconography making the events relatable and understandable. Wonderful explores how we create persona and image, how we find signs in everyday life and how reality and illusion are inextricably linked. I found this element of the narrative utterly fascinating. This is the kind of story that resonates long after it is read and makes the reader consider the world differently.

In contrast to Marilyn’s fame, Flora is totally ordinary. Her poverty, her difficult relationship with her mother and her closeness to Bella are the kinds of experiences any one of us could relate to. I thought her developing relationship with Neil was pitch perfect. As the story unfolds and we discover why Flora maintains a romantic distance from Neil, despite their obvious attraction to one another, the emotional impact of the story deepens. 

And there is huge emotion in Louise Beech’s writing and I did shed an occasional tear as I read. One of the most affecting messages of the book is that fame does not equate to happiness. Equally important and emotionally resonant is the manner with which women – and young girls – are treated by those with power over them, how they can be used and abused and how their experiences affect the remainder of their lives. 

But although this might sound rather bleak, Wonderful is a fabulous example of how we can transcend our origins, the traumas of our past and the expectations of others. The book celebrates women for themselves, not who others want them to be. There is vulnerability and mental and emotional struggle, but there is also friendship, strength and true beauty. Wonderful shows how we can change not only our own lives, but the lives of others too. There’s a profound understanding of the power of love. 

With its magical and spiritual element of the Virgin Mary set alongside two women at the opposite ends of the fame and fortune spectrum, Wonderful takes the reader on an emotional journey that is affecting, entertaining and, actually, unforgettable. Once you’ve read Wonderful, you won’t want to be quiet about it! I loved it. 

About Louise Beech

Louise Beech is the author of nine novels and a memoir, Eighteen Seconds (2023). Her debut, How to be Brave, was a Guardian Readers’ Pick; The Lion Tamer Who Lost was 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.

You can follow Louise on Twitter @LouiseWriter, find her on Facebook and Instagram and visit her website for further information.