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  • Wish You Were Here

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Jodi Picoult
  • Narrated by: Marin Ireland
  • Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (525 ratings)

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Wish You Were Here

Written by: Jodi Picoult
Narrated by: Marin Ireland
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Publisher's Summary

#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)

Rights sold to Netflix for adaptation as a feature film • Named one of the best books of the year by She Reads

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.

©2021 Random House (P)2021 Random House Audio

What the critics say

“Jodi Picoult once again proves she is the master of wading through the darkness to find the light.” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Malibu Rising)

Wish You Were Here is a transporting and transcendent novel about seeking out glimmers of light in the darkness, and following them wherever they lead. Jodi Picoult is that rare, one-in-a-million writer whose books both squeeze your heart and expand your mind. Her latest is wise, surprising, and utterly extraordinary.”⁠ (Emily Henry, number one New York Times best-selling author of People We Meet on Vacation and Beach Read)

“In Wish You Were Here, Jodi Picoult does something brilliant, cracking open something extraordinary. I am just overwhelmed by this book. I actually finished it at three in the morning and started reading it again.” (Caroline Leavitt, New York Times best-selling author of With or Without You)

Editorial Review

Diana had a perfect life: a loving fiancé, a great job and a well-planned future. But when a global pandemic turns her world upside down, Diana must re-evaluate everything she thought she knew and wanted.

From Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of the beloved classic My Sister’s Keeper comes yet another heart-wrenching novel, Wish You Were Here. This New York Times bestseller is a timely and poignant tale of love and life during a pandemic’s shock, uncertainty, and upheaval. It follows the story of our main character, Diana O’Toole. A resident of New York City on the cusp of 30, Diana has it all together—an associate at Sotheby’s, she is slowly but surely conquering the ruthless art auction world while maintaining a relationship with her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident. With a birthday trip to the Galápagos Islands looming, Diana is knocked for a loop by the arrival of a mysterious, fast-spreading virus.

Finn must stay behind in the city and work, though he insists on Diana making the getaway they had planned together alone. What follows is a consequential misadventure. Diana’s luggage is lost, there is virtually no wi-fi, and with the virus escalating into a pandemic, Diana is stuck on the Galápagos Islands until quarantine restrictions are lifted.

Diana must take matters into her own hands and forge a relationship with a local family, despite their general misgivings about tourists and her. Jodi Picoult creates a tour de force adventure, capturing the resilience and jubilations of the human spirit. Told beautifully by accomplished narrator Marin Ireland, Wish You Were Here gives the listener hope in a world of unpredictability. Before its release as a Netflix original feature film adaptation, listen to the unabridged audiobook and be prepared to be swept away.

What listeners say about Wish You Were Here

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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Great read!

I would recommend this book to anyone. I listened to it on my 7 hour drive to be with my 90 year old dad who had been diagnosed with Covid. I enjoyed reading about people who were dealing with the things we’ve been dealing with for 2 years.
Great story and timely.
ps. Dad recovered.

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5 people found this helpful

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Looking forward...

I have been looking forward to seeing how an author would handle Covid and Jodi Picoult is one of favourite authors. An absolute pleasure and an interesting listen with a great narrator.

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Just don’t think I was ready to read this yet

Definitely not one of her best books. I love her as an author because she gives such incredible insight to her readers about the subjects she chooses. Seeing a perspective from the characters she develops to tell the story. Maybe I feel this way because it is book about the pandemic and I no longer find interest in anything pandemic. I want to forget not read a novel about it. It totally nails everything we lived through. Therefore I am not sure if it is a good book or not because I personally didn’t enjoy it. I believe it was just the subject and it was just too soon post pandemic to make it likeable at all for me. Maybe if I had read it ten years from now it would have been better …. Or not. Definitely a chronicle of what it was like to live through the pandemic. Very well documented information with great characters as always with her books. It will be a book enjoyed by future generations who hopefully never experience a pandemic but who want to know what it was like.

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1 person found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing

I suppose the author thought they were being clever, but it seemed a shallow, jump the shark sort of trope. I was drawn in by the beginning but super disappointed as it plodded on.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful!

Always have enjoyed Jodi Picoult’s books but this one touched me like no other!! Living through the COVID pandemic has been unlike any personal trauma I’ve endured throughout my 79 years….Jodi’s remarks at the end are so very, very poignant!!

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engaging informative and surprising

I found myself swept up in the story and did not question its reliability. I was surprised at the turn of events and became bound up in the second story only to come back to the beginning. High marks to Jodi as always.

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1 person found this helpful

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Fantastic!

I really loved this book. It was great to listen to a fictional story about people in the midst of the Covid-19 experience. I would definitely recommend this book!

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not what i expected, quite thought- provoking

can't really say much because i don't want to spoil it for others but i was totally engaged in the story and loved the protagonist a lot! narrator is wonderful, so natural!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful and Visceral

I really enjoyed this story. I am buying a hard copy of this book to give my daughter in her time capsule that she will open in 10 years.
I work in a hospital in Canada and parts of this story brought me to tears. Jodi put into words how frustratingly hopeless it felt to be a healthcare worker, and the loneliness of isolation, the countless other challenges we all experienced during the pandemic and it was immensely validating.
Covid aside, it was a really great story to follow Diana through her personal journey as well. Jodi’s descriptions are so vivid, I didn’t want it to end.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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Not for me

I was very annoyed by the end… i liked the beginning, but the end was not original

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