Wellness

 

                                        *free review copy* 

Title: Wellness

Author: Nathan Hill

Publisher: Knopf

Release Date: 9.26.23

Publisher’s Summary 

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the '90s, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicago’s thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter cults disguised as mindfulness support groups, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook wars, and something called Love Potion Number Nine.

For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to painful childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their each other.

My Review

The novel begins in January 1993 with Jack and Elizabeth's early years of love in Chicago's Wicker Park, jumps around a bit to include their future together as parents and possibly new homeowners in 2014, and dives back into each of their family histories (both ghastly.) The story spans so many big topics and summarizing a 600+ page book is impossible but I would narrow the novel's main themes down to authenticity (in life and art) and psychological manipulation (from family, technology, and the wellness industry.) 

I generally refrain from revealing sections that I especially loved for fear that they may spoil the experience for a future reader, but there is a small storyline that was woven in so well that I just have to comment on it. I think everyone will learn something or wish they could force someone they love to read it, and that is about Jack's father's relationship with Facebook. Jack belongs to a demographic of people who know that Facebook (and virtually any social media platform) runs on algorithms to draw users in and then continue to deliver content intended to drive engagement within the platform--because that's how they make money. Jack's father represents another demographic, an almost entire generation of social media users who view the world through a technological medium that they have never learned how to properly use or analyze. The details that author Nathan Hill used in these sections alone would have had me singing this book's praises, but that is just a single storyline. There are so many more perfectly captured themes and detailed characters in this book that my head is spinning in amazement. 

To sum it up: this book currently sits in my #1 spot for Best Book of 2023.