Wish You Were Here: A Novel
Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - From the author of Small Great Things and The Book of Two Ways comes "a powerfully evocative story of resilience and the triumph of the human spirit" (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six) Rights sold to Netflix for adaptation as a feature film - Named one of the best books of the year by She Reads Diana O'Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She's an associate specialist at Sotheby's now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She's not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos--days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time. But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It's all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes. Almost immediately, Diana's dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they'd booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father's suspicion of outsiders. In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself--and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different. This edition contains a short story, discussion questions, and an excerpt from Jodi Picoult's next novel.Show more
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Community Reviews
It took a moment to get past the fact that this was set during COVID (four years later but it's still a draining era), however, once I did I found the story incredibly enjoyable and thrilling. The twist was brilliant and caught me completely off guard. I didn't enjoy the ending, which is why I'm not rating it this higher, but I think it's a wonderful read and would definitely recommend it.
Setting every bit of my personal and professional opinions of the covid-19 pandemic aside, and there are many, ...I enjoyed this book for the twists and turns it took, and I appreciate the author's extensive research at the time to publish this novel in 2021. There were times when I had to take a mental health break from some situations in the book, again because my personal feeling
Jodi captured a moment in time in such a unique way with unexpected twists and brining to light a topic I did not know anything about.
I did not think I was ready to read a book about covid. We are STILL living this for goodness sakes, how could I possibly be interested in reading about such a recent stressful past? The first chapter or so was not that intriguing to me, but I stuck it out and I was so glad that I did. The book is split down the middle with a big twist, and I can't decide which half I liked more.
This was a pleasant surprise and a very easy read
This was a pleasant surprise and a very easy read
There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed but overall, not my favorite book. I did enjoy how it ended and how it all tied together but I did not enjoy the first half of the book.
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