Wish You Were Here: A Novel
#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)
Look for Jodi Picoult’s new novel, By Any Other Name, available August 20!
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.
Look for Jodi Picoult’s new novel, By Any Other Name, available August 20!
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.
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Readers say *Wish You Were Here* by Jodi Picoult offers a vivid, well-researched portrayal of healthcare workers’ experiences during early Covid-19, e...
After reading Small Great Things and the Storyteller (both amazing stories), I was a little let down by this book, esp. when I got to the twist in the middle. Diana's exploration of the nature of memory as impacted by illness helped smooth that transition a little bit, but the bit she got from the psychic just seemed a bit much.
I do appreciate the detail Picoult went into about what it was like for doctors and nurses in the early days of Covid, in an area as hard hit as NYC. I'm afraid too many Americans have forgotten what that was like or minimized it b/c the reality was just too traumatizing.
I do appreciate the detail Picoult went into about what it was like for doctors and nurses in the early days of Covid, in an area as hard hit as NYC. I'm afraid too many Americans have forgotten what that was like or minimized it b/c the reality was just too traumatizing.
I read this book twice, the first time was in 2023, I got to chapter 2, and I had to put the book down. I didn’t put it down because of the subject matter; but because I didn’t enjoy the way the story was going. I had to reread it for book club, which meant I had to finish it. This time getting past part one and getting into part two, I started to enjoy the story. The first time when I reviewed it on Goodreads, I said it would not make a good book club read. I had to rethink that when I read it completely and I found it was thought provoking. I will say I enjoy the book, because I think she didn’t put politics in the story. She put just straightforward the way people felt on living through this time in history.
Wish You Were Here is a timely, emotionally layered novel that explores how quickly life can shift and how identity is often shaped in moments we don’t choose. Set against the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the story follows Diana as a dream vacation turns into unexpected isolation, forcing her to confront love, loss, and the version of life she thought she wanted.
Picoult excels at capturing uncertainty and emotional disorientation the quiet loneliness, the longing for connection, and the internal questioning that arises when plans fall apart. The novel gently examines themes of grief, privilege, purpose, and self-reflection, asking what it truly means to live a meaningful life when control is stripped away.
While parts of the story move slowly and feel introspective, that pacing mirrors the stillness and suspension of the moment in history it portrays. The ending offers a thoughtful, if bittersweet, reflection rather than a neat resolution, reinforcing the idea that growth often comes from sitting with discomfort.
Wish You Were Here is a contemplative read perfect for readers who appreciate emotional depth, moral reflection, and stories about becoming rather than arriving.
It was an interesting read. Liked that it was a different story than I thought it would be. Pulled emotions out of me that I wasn’t expecting. My heart still hurts.
Pandemic story. The girlfriend goes on the planned trip the Galapagos Islands while boyfriend (surgeon) stays back in NYC to stay on the front lines of the covid pandemic. The entire pandemic storyline was one sided CNN media scare. I lived the panic and media scare of the covid pandemic, and I didn't enjoy reliving in this story. the masks, the lockdowns.
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