Pilsen

Much of Hello Beautiful takes place in Pilsen, a neighborhood in Chicago. Early in the novel, Napolitano describes Pilsen as “a working-class neighborhood filled with immigrants. Colorful murals adorned the sides of the buildings, and in the local supermarket, you were as likely to hear Spanish or Polish as English” (16). The Padavanos grow up in a small house on 18th Place in Pilsen; over the course of the narrative, Pilsen emerges as a key symbol of home, family, and familiarity for the Padavano sisters. Cecelia, Emeline, Josie, Izzy, Sylvie, and William all make their respective homes in Pilsen, thus revealing their continued attachment to the place.

The Super-Duplex

Late in the novel, Emeline and Josie purchase the house next door to Cecelia’s home in Pilsen. The sisters knock down the dividing fence and form a “super-duplex” (274), a name that Cecelia’s daughter, Izzy, gives the place. The...