The Wish
A Novel
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the #1 bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes a heartbreaking contemporary novel full of the author’s characteristic empathy and understanding of the human condition: a dying teenager with a final wish, a lonely young man on a journey towards connection, and the unexpected friendship they find together, this is an irresistible and unforgettable read for fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and John Green.
Jesse is fifteen. She loves her friends, her little brother and her parents, even when they’re arguing, which feels constant these days. But most of all, she loves playing video games. Even from her hospital bed.
Alex is twenty-nine. He doesn't love a lot of things and isn’t really sure he knows how to. A virtual reality games designer, his work desk is empty except for his computer, much like his life sometimes feels.
Then Jesse makes a wish. A simple one: a video experience made of her life, something to be there, just in case she isn’t.
One loving teenager.
One lonely adult.
Which one will get the happy ending?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historical novelist Morris (The Tattooist of Auschwitz) turns to contemporary fiction with an affecting if hackneyed story of a dying teen's last wish. Jesse, 15, is in and out of the hospital with terminal leukemia. Alex, about to turn 30, is a brilliant but socially awkward coder working at a CGI studio, who lives alone except for his dog. When Jesse makes a wish through a foundation for an immersive 3-D film of her life to leave for her family after she's gone, Alex's company takes on the project. Working together, Alex and Jesse incorporate drawings by her younger brother, her mother's poetry, photos of the family at their favorite picnic spot on the beach, and staged scenes featuring Jesse to surprise her family. Meanwhile, the strain of Jesse's illness has torn her parents' marriage apart, and her father treats Alex with contempt and hostility. What's more, Alex's boss wants to turn Jesse's wish into a publicity stunt, which nearly drives Alex to quit. Though Morris avoids the maudlin by sustaining an upbeat tone, the plot veers into cliché, as when Alex finds himself falling in love with a blue-eyed social worker at the hospital. It's a mixed bag.
