Wish You Were Here: saying goodbye

Wish You Were Here by Kay Bratt is the third book in The Wishing Tree series. Henry Harmon has been married to his bigger-than-life, talk-of-the-town wife, Greta, for more than sixty years. He began to notice differences in her behavior, when her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s comes to light, he struggles to care for her as he promised to “in sickness and in health.” But he is determined to do it alone. However, Neva Cabot won’t let Henry care for Greta alone. Even though many years she cut her friendship ties with Greta and Henry, she can’t bring herself to let Henry struggle alone. After some soul-searching, she walks in and helps Henry find ways to deal with Greta’s mood swings and slips in time. At the same time, Janie Stallard moves into town with a secret. Neva offers her a job and a place to stay at her inn. As Neva helps care for Greta, she tries to figure out why Janie is in Linden Falls. 

Wish You Were Here is another great addition to The Wishing Tree series. Kay Bratt handles the aspects of Alzheimer’s beautifully. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s before she passed away and I saw her in Greta. The slips in time, the conversations with invisible people, and even looking for people who have been long gone. Even the heartbreaking realization when Greta has a moment of clarity, knowing it wouldn’t last. I wanted to reach through the book and give Neva a big hug. Even though her heart broke many years ago, she still wanted to help. I loved the methods that Neva uses to help Greta. Janie’s story is interesting. We know she’s hiding something. Is she running from something or someone? The shocking reveal of why she is in Linden Falls was one I did not expect. I am looking forward to hearing about her story in future books. I highly recommend Wish You Were Here as well as the first two books in the series. 

Wish You Were Here is available in paperback and eBook

Wish You Were Here: a story of personal evolutions

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is a story about the unexpectedness of life and finding what you didn’t know you wanted. Diana O’Toole was the track to her perfect life. She would be married by 30 and have her children by 35, then they would move to the New York suburbs. Of course, she will climb the professional ladder in the cutthroat world of art auctions. She is an associate specialist at Sotheby’s and certainly on her way to a promotion, if she could just close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged yet but she’s certain that her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is close to proposing. Probably on their vacation getaway to the Galapagos. But when the COVID-19 hits New York City and on the eve of their departure, Finn announces that it's all hands on deck at the hospital. He can’t leave but there’s no reason Diana can’t go. Why waste their non refundable trip? So, she goes. Immediately, the trip goes south and she finds herself on lockdown on the island. Slowly, she connects with a local family. As Darwin formed his theory of evolution by natural selection in the Galapagos Islands, Diana finds herself examining herself and wonders if she will be the same person when she gets home? 

After I read Ms. Picoult’s latest release, The Book of Two Ways, I was hesitant to read Wish You Were Here. But I decided to give her another chance as she is usually good for an emotional, thought provoking story. Unfortunately, Wish You Were Here fell flat for me. There was no emotional impact. I understand where the author was going with the thought provoking idea of personal evolutions. I didn’t feel any connection to Diana and her story development was predictable. I didn’t care for her high profile client, Kitomi Ito and her husband Sam, which was a very barely-disguised copy of Yoko Ono and John Lennon. I didn’t enjoy the political digs and while the author makes no effort to hide her political stance in any of her books, I felt the political digs were overly done. Overall, Wish You Were Here isn’t the Jodi Picoult story I am used to or expected. Although I should have listened to my hesitation after my experience with The Book of Two Ways. As with most of her books, there is a twist that “you shouldn’t see coming” but this one really angered me and soured the book even more for me. I feel writing about COVID while we are still living in the pandemic was a bad move. 

Wish You Were Here will be available November 30, 2021 in hardcover, eBook and audiobook.