Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: November 30, 2021
Source: ARC E-copy via Publisher/Netgalley
Summary:
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of the human spirit in a moment of crisis.
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 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. 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.
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.
My thoughts:
It’s been a while since I’ve read a book by Jodi Picoult, but as soon as I heard about this one I knew I had to read it…and I was not disappointed. Yes, it’s about the pandemic but you know that going in if you read the synopsis but in true Jodi Picoult form, it’s so much more than that.
This isn’t the first book I’ve read the deals with the pandemic, but it most definitely is the first one that really made me emotional. I live just outside NYC and have friends that are in the medical profession who work there and this one hit close to home in that respect. The emotional toll that those frontline workers went through during the early wave of this pandemic was so clearly drawn through Finn’s character as a medical resident.
This book takes you on quite an emotional journey and is incredibly thought-provoking. If you aren’t ready to tackle a book that deals with all the feelings that the pandemic will bring up, this isn’t the book for you, but if you are ready to go back to those early days when there was so much fear and little was known about what would happen or how long it would all last, then definitely give this one a go. It’s definitely the type of book that you are going to want to read and think about and then chat about with someone and I’m so glad that my online bookclub, #mommaleighellensbookclub, has selected this as one of our December picks.
There is so much more I want to say about this book, but to do so would be to spoil it and I will not do that. Just know that this book is incredibly researched and layered with emotion. The author has such an uncanny ability to put you right back where you were during such an uncertain time and make you feel all those hard emotions – anxiety, fear, isolation – and while this is a fictional story, it feels so real. She also doesn’t just make this about the pandemic but about finding yourself and that is the beauty of this book. I highly recommend reading this one if and when you are ready for it.
