Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult
29 November 2021
Thirty-year-old New Yorker Diana is a woman with a plan. The rising star associate in the art world is on the verge of closing a big deal that could see her win the promotion she’s long dreamed of. Marriage, followed by children by the time she’s thirty-five, are also part of the arrangement. Diana is certain Finn, her long-time boyfriend, a hospital doctor, is on the verge of proposing.
They are about to leave for a holiday on the Galapagos Islands, and Diana is sure she’ll come home an engaged woman. But then the COVID pandemic breaks out. Finn tells Diana he cannot leave the hospital. Instead of postponing the getaway though, he suggests Diana go to Galapagos by herself, an idea she unwittingly agrees to. At that stage though, no one has any idea of what is about to come. Upon reaching the Islands, Diana discovers she is stranded there indefinitely.
With her luggage lost, the hotel closed, little knowledge of the local language, and patchy wi-fi, Diana finds herself outside her comfort zone for the first time in her life. Wish You Were Here (published by Penguin Random House, November 2021), by American author Jodi Picoult, sees someone’s well laid plans fall to pieces due to unforeseen circumstances, coupled though with an opportunity to reassess their life. Something that may be familiar to many of us, perhaps?
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