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American writer Jodi Picoult is back with a new contemporary fiction ‘Wish You Were Here’, which was released in November 2021 and became an instant bestseller. Set in the backdrop of the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic, Picoult’s new novel is about rediscovering oneself and hope. In an interview to NPR, Picoult revealed that ‘Wish You Were Here’ is inspired from the true story of a Japanese tourist Jesse Katayama who was stranded in Machu Picchu when the Covid pandemic began. Katayama stayed with the local community there for months till she was given special permission by the government to see the historical site! But unlike the true story, Picoult’s novel is set in the Galapagos islands at a time when the world shut down due to the sudden rise of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Diana O’Toole, 29, has her life all planned– she is aiming for a promotion to get her dream job of becoming an art specialist at Sotheby’s, and she is about to go on a vacation to the Galapagos island with her surgeon boyfriend Finn, where he is about to propose her. But just when everything seems too good to be true, there is a sudden turn of events. It’s March 2020 and New York City is hit by the Coronavirus. Finn is needed at the hospital and he can’t go to the Galapagos. Instead, he insists Diana go solo as the trip is paid for. But once she reaches Galapagos, the world shuts down due to Covid. Diana is now stuck on the island with poor connection with the outside world. As she tries to figure things out for herself– finding a place to stay as the hotel closes, staying connected to Finn when there’s no network– she also starts to question and re-examine her life and choices…

The book is divided into two parts; the unexpected twists in the later half keeps the readers on the edge. While Picoult transports the readers to the beautiful tourist-free Galapagos islands in this book, she also writes about the ugly truths of how the pandemic strained relationships between loved ones and families due to separations. The author also captures the struggles and never-ending persistence of frontline workers who are fighting against the virus. “I wrote to help myself put the pandemic into perspective, and found comfort and hope in it,” Picoult recently tweeted about her novel and we hope it would resonate with many readers too.

How critics view the book:

Booklist says that the book “Taps into the trauma and uncertainty of 2020’s global crisis. Absolutely a must-read.”

Claire Hennessy writes for the
Irish Times, “a smart and emotional page-turner that makes space for individual life crises in the face of a global one.”

Publishers Weekly writes, “As always, Picoult is eminently readable”.