What readers think of Wellness, plus links to write your own review.

This is a love story. An epic love story about a modern marriage and the bonds that hold couples together and sometimes tear them apart. And what a doozie of a love story it is! This novel is about the stories we tell ourselves and each other and how those stories—true and exaggerated—shape who we are and the lives we live.

Masterfully written by Nathan Hill, this is the story of Elizabeth and Jack—from their meet-cute in 1993 as college students in Chicago to 16 years after they were married, struggling to preserve their relationship as the struggles of jobs, parenting, and real estate take over their daily existence. Their sex life is sputtering to a slow halt amidst the busy-ness so when two polyamorous suitors wheedle their way into Elizabeth and Jack's life, things get interesting and a bit intimidating.

While theirs appears to be a fun and somewhat intimate love story, there is so much more going on because Hill wrote this literary fiction novel from both points of view. More than a romance novel, this is a deep psychological study of Elizabeth and Jack and the forces—childhood difficulties and tragedies, unloving, abusive parents, daunting life experiences—that make them who they are now. We find out what Jack is thinking and doing and then what Elizabeth is thinking and doing—and at times, the two couldn't be more different.

This brilliant and introspective novel is richly imagined and expertly crafted. It made me laugh. It made me sad. It made me curious. But most of all, it made me happy I was reading it. And the ending? It is perfect. Just perfect.

That said, it is a long novel at 600 pages, and quite a few times, it gets bogged down. But keep plowing through that because it's worth it.

Bonus No. 1: Jack is an artistic photographer, and photos (purportedly) taken by him introduce each of the book's sections in a particularly poignant and meaningful way. Pay attention to these photos.

Bonus No. 2: This is more than fiction. Read this book and you will get a primer on several topics, including prairie fires, picky eaters, an introduction to art history, the science behind the placebo effect, the history of condensed milk, post-modern art, and the deepest dive you've probably ever read (at least in a novel) about how the Facebook algorithms work. There is even a bibliography at the end of the novel. Enjoy a bit of nonfiction with your novel at no extra charge!

I am totally beyond satisfied that "Wellness" by Nathan Hill was the first book I read for 2024! (Like many readers I always try to choose an epic one to begin the year!) It totally deserves its selection as an NPR best book of the year and an Oprah's Book Club pick, though it was already on my radar since I loved Hill's first book "The Nix" and I fervently hope he is already furiously writing his next great book!

"Wellness" tells the tale of Elizabeth and Jack who meet when they are college students. Fast forward and now they routinely tell their story of living in apartment buildings directly across from one another and how they watched each other furtively until they finally met accidentally in a dive bar and Jack simply said "Come with" and thus their relationship began. But now, they are older, and life is filled with the mundane, and they have a child, and issues with the construction and designing of their dream home, and serious problems with their careers. Throw in suburban drama and social media trolling helmed by Brandie (of course she spells her name with an ie!) a mean girl mom who hides behind her positive thinking mantra while sabotaging anyone who doesn't fit in with her narrative and an interesting couple with an open marriage who fixate on Elizabeth and Jack.

Hill has taken the traditional love story into the modern era with great style. We watch Elizabeth and Jack face the hard truths about their lives. We learn they both have dysfunctional families that they fled, but have they repeated the mistakes of their own parents? Elizabeth has never told Jack the complete story of how her father wanted her to fail at everything and in turn Jack has never told Elizabeth why he feels responsible for the death of his beloved older sister when he was only nine years old.

As Hill writes, " ...people created a story that explained themselves to themselves, and then they believed their made-up story was the actual objective truth." Can this couple unearth their inner selves and then reveal them to one another? Or is it as Jack fears, "His wife and son were becoming other people, new people, people who found Jack more and more unnecessary."

Hill's writing style will appeal to fans of the literary genre and those who prefer a family tale that is relevant to today's society and all its enormous overwhelming flood of information and striving to be the best at everything one does. The reader is engrossed and captured within this saga on the very first page and it will linger in their thoughts for a long, long, long time. It deserves to be on the top of your TBR list!!