Saturday, February 5, 2022

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult


 Diana and Finn live together in New York.  Finn is a doctor in his fourth year of residency and Diana is a specialist in the art auction field handling acquisitions  of prime pieces of art. They have a specific plan for getting married, moving to a suburb, buying a home and having children.  That part of the plan reminded me of Rebecca Serle's book In Five Years. Very similar with the plans/goals and timeline.

Covid is just starting to make it's presence known and the medical professionals are dealing with cases flooding the emergency room. The well planned trip to the Galapagos Island Finn and Diana made may need to be canceled.  Finn tells Diana to go ahead as it's paid for and nonrefundable.

I found it interesting to read about Finn's perspective in trying to treat patients, watching them die after being ventilated, trying new treatment plans and drugs and the sheer exhaustion he feels after working nonstop for days. This is so realistc and you can tell Picoult did her homework on these scenarios.  It's relayed to Diana through emails as she went on the trip and then found herself isolated and in lockdown.  She wishes she hadn't gone but her experiences on the island are interesting as well. 

Without revealing spoilers you will come to a part of the story where it changes completely and you wonder if Diana is indeed in the Galapagos. This isn't like other Picoult books but I did find it interesting.

7 comments:

  1. It sounded good and then sounded even better when you wrote "it changes completely and you wonder if Diana is indeed in the Galapagos". I think I'd like this gook/

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  2. I really liked this book, and mostly because of the descriptions Finn gives about fighting Covid! Funny how fiction can make reality more personal and believable.

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  3. I’d like to read this one, thanks for sharing your thoughts

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  4. This sounds like one I'd like to read... adding to my list!

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  5. I'm not usually a fan of Picoult and this one sounds a little too close to home for me but the comment about the book changing course has me seriously intrigued!

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  6. Since I enjoyed the last book that you recommended set in COVID times (56 Days), I may give this one a go, too. I'm surprised at myself that reading about COVID seems to work for me. I think there must be something healing about seeing it in the controlled circumstances of a book. It distances it, just a little, and lets me cope with it in the fictional world. That does something that helps me cope with it a little better in the real world.

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