Book Review: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

 Wish you Were Here

by

Jodi Picoult

 

What if your dream holiday wasn't what it seemed.... 

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

 

Publication date: 25th November 2021

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

 

Pages: 336

 

RRP: $32.99AUD

 

Format read: Uncorrected Paperback

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher 

 My review

 

Through Wish You Were Here Jodi Picoult expresses the feelings of isolation, loss of control and re-evaluation of life that we all struggled with during the pandemic.

Wish You Were Here is not only a story set during the pandemic it is centred on the pandemic.

 

Diana has her perfect job at Sotheby's art department and she is about to land a major coup; auctioning a painting by Toulouse-Lautrec. I am sure the references to the painting Diana was going to auction and all the information on the painter and the John and Yoko-ish vibe had some deep meaning but I just didn't get it.  

Diana is also certain her boyfriend, Finn is going to propose to her on their upcoming holiday.

 

It's March 2020 and the cusp of the Covid pandemic. Finn, an intern in a New York hospital, is called in to do extra hours at the hospital and he encourages Diana to go on their prepaid holiday alone.

 

Diana arrives on the island of Isabela in the Galapagos just as they are going into a two week shut-down and communication with the outside world is scant. As the weeks turn to months we are taken on an exquisite tour of the island in all its beauty as Diana lives with the locals.

Updates on the pandemic are received through intermittent emails from Finn who is on the front line. Through these emails we see the catastrophe unfold; the horror, the fear and death is real.

Picoult's descriptions of the idyllic island life are captivating and vividly contrasted with life back in New York.

There is a huge plot twist in the middle of the book and I found it hard to recover from this. For me, the remainder of the book was hard to read, Covid is still too fresh and raw. I think if I read it again in another 5 or 10 years I would find myself more invested.

My rating 3 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐

About the author

photo credit: Goodreads

  Jodi Picoult is the author of twenty-five novels, with forty million copies sold worldwide. Her last twelve books have debuted at #1 on the New York Times best-seller list, including her most recent, The Book of Two Ways. Five novels have been made into movies. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the New England Booksellers Award for Fiction, the Alex Award from the YA Library Services Association, and the New Hampshire Literary Award for Outstanding Literary Merit. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.