One good thing seems to be certain in the wake of every national or international crisis, whether manmade or in nature. Jodi Picoult will incorporate it into a gripping novel. The current pandemic sets the scene for Wish You Were Here. Following the pattern of other Picoult books, the crisis takes on the importance and feeling of an additional character in the book.
Protagonist Diana O’Toole has goals and a life plan that seems to be clicking along according to her schedule when the COVID epidemic appears. Almost engaged, Diana and Finn have a trip planned to the Galapagos just as COVID raises its ugly head in New York City. As a surgical resident, Finn has to stay and tend to the rising numbers of hospital patients but insists that she go on as planned since the trip money is nonrefundable. Diana’s life changes, because of the pandemic, ring true. She deals with a mother with dementia under a DNR order in a nursing home. She meets people she can’t speak with because she doesn’t know Spanish and has other difficulties in the Galapagos that include an inability to communicate with home because of no internet connections. Then there is the teenager cutter she meets who mirrors her own contentious mother/daughter relationship. Surprises and intriguing twists compel the reader through the darkness of the pandemic all the way to the unexpected conclusion.
In a letter from Jodi to her readers, published by Goodreads, she says, “I hope you’ll always remember to ask yourselves how this experience changed the way you think about the rest of your life.” I think it is probable that her hope will come true. If you are a longtime Picoult fan, you will be prepared for her to put a creative spin on this worldwide disaster. The author has out-Picoulted herself with this novel. Readers should be advised to have time, a good chair, and a blanket set aside since not much will be going on until the book is finished.