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Here's How Taylor Swift Inspired Real Life Swiftie Emily Henry's New Novel Alongside Princess Diana And Others
Emily Henry reveals how Taylor Swift, Princess Diana, and famous families like the Kennedys helped shape her new novel Great Big Beautiful Life.
Emily Henry’s latest book, Great Big Beautiful Life, takes inspiration from several real-life figures, including Taylor Swift, Princess Diana, and the Kennedy family. Out now, the novel follows Alice Scott and Hayden Anderson, who are competing to become the official biographer of a reclusive media heiress, Margaret Ives.
Margaret, a former tabloid fixture, holds the key to both their careers and personal futures. The story also dives into more than 100 years of her family’s history.
Henry told E! News that building Margaret’s character was challenging but rewarding. “The idea of this woman who is part of this larger-than-life history that the average American would maybe be somewhat familiar with…they would have had this gossip rag-driven idea of who this person was,” she stated.
One of the biggest influences on Margaret was Rebekah Harkness, a socialite whose life Taylor Swift describes in her song The Last Great American Dynasty. Henry admitted that Swift’s storytelling helped shape her own thinking. “I love that song, and love the story behind it,” she said. “Every once in a while I find myself back on the Wikipedia page, just reading through.”
While Harkness was only a small part of the inspiration, Henry said she enjoys stories of families that carry both privilege and burden, adding that such legacies often pass through generations.
Henry also mentioned that Princess Diana and the Kennedy family served as emotional anchors for her story. She felt that Diana’s public life and tragic end still resonate deeply, describing it as unnecessarily tragic and something that continues to loom large for many people.
She stated that the Kennedy family’s history, especially their aviation-related tragedies, showed how trauma and legacy can shape a family over time. According to Henry, such histories often give rise to the feeling of a family curse.
The Ives family, at the heart of the novel, is fictional but was shaped by the influence of real media dynasties like the Hearsts, Pulitzers, and Murdochs.
Henry pointed out that, while these families have managed to maintain a level of privacy in recent decades, they still captivate public attention. She also took inspiration from modern media portrayals, including the television show Succession, which is loosely based on the Murdoch family.
While Margaret and the Ives family aren’t direct copies of any one real-life family, Henry said she drew from many to create a rich and layered story. “There were so many different families that I pulled from,” she said, “But mostly it was just to give a sense of history.”
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