Wish You Were Here
The Sunday Times bestseller readers are raving about
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3.1 • 7 Ratings
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- €5.49
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- €5.49
Publisher Description
'A powerfully evociative story of the resilience and triumph of the human spirit' TAYLOR JENKINS REID, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF DAISY JONES AND THE SIX
'Extraordinary . . . it's such a great book' GRAHAM NORTON
Diana O'Toole's life is going perfectly to plan. At twenty-nine, she's up for promotion to her dream job as an art specialist at Sotheby's and she's about to fly to the Galápagos where she's convinced her surgeon boyfriend, Finn, is going to propose.
But then the virus hits New York City and Finn breaks the news: the hospital needs him, he has to stay. But you should still go, he insists. And reluctantly, she agrees. Once she's in the Galápagos, the world shuts down around her, leaving Diana stranded - albeit in paradise. Completely isolated, with only intermittent news from the outside world, Diana finds herself examining everything that has brought her to this point and wondering if there's a better way to live.
But not everything is as it seems . . .
'What a masterpiece! All her books are great but this was exceptional!' ***** Real Reader Review
'Keep the tissues to hand and prepare to get emotional' ***** Real Reader Review
'What a twist!' ***** Real Reader Review
MAD HONEY, the stunning and compelling Sunday Times bestseller by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan is available now.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jodi Picoult’s Wish You Were Here is an incisive read on the trauma and isolation of recent years. The story opens with New Yorker Diana O’Toole set to embark upon a working trip to the Galápagos Islands, where she prays Finn, her boyfriend, will finally propose. Picoult’s lively prose is reminiscent of New York’s buzz and this gives way to the hovering air of doom that envelops the city as Covid-19 cases rise. As Mayor de Blasio calls for a state of emergency, Finn (a surgical resident) is trapped at work and Diana hesitantly boards for the Galápagos on her own. Almost 200 years earlier, Charles Darwin’s visit to the island chain inspired his theory of evolution—now Diana is faced with the study of her own progress and ability to grow. A strongly researched read, Picoult weaves details and key facts on the paradise archipelago, and reflect this against the ever-changing nature of our time in comparison. Though a huge twist lies in wait for Diana, her learning curve will show her that the only constant in life is change.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Picoult's beguiling page-turner revisits the premise of two alternate worlds, as explored in 2020's The Book of Two Ways, this time with the Covid-19 pandemic as a backdrop. It's March 13, 2020, in New York City, the day after Broadway theaters shut down because of a new contagious virus. Diana O'Toole, an associate specialist with Sotheby's, is on the verge of closing a career-changing deal and expecting her boyfriend, Finn, to propose. But Finn, a surgeon, has just been informed he cannot take their planned Galápagos Islands vacation because the hospital needs all hands on deck for the predicted inundation of virus-infected patients. One couldn't ask for more opposite places: the isolated Pacific Ocean islands with native iguanas, prehistoric turtles, and exotic flora and fauna, and the grim world of packed ICU wards, staff burnout, and the debilitating reality of an onslaught of deaths that cannot be stopped or prevented. In the Galápagos, Diana befriends a teenage girl, begins an affair with the girl's father, and second-guesses her conformist, status-oriented life plans. While a major plot twist feels both contrived and implausible, it serves to examine how catastrophes can strain the characters' relationships while time apart can inspire complex soul-searching. As always, Picoult is eminently readable, though even the author's fans will find some of this wanting.
Customer Reviews
Loved it
Current, fast moving & with a surprising twist.