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Wellness by Nathan Hill

Wellness by Nathan HillBASE__COVER-OF

607 pp

Adult Fiction

5/5*

Formats Available: Physical book, Libby eBook and eAudiobook

 

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the gritty '90s Chicago art scene, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in the thriving underground scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years to suburban married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter the often-baffling pursuits of health and happiness from polyamorous would-be suitors to home-renovation hysteria. 
 
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 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 lives: each other.

 

Parenthood can easily become very isolating. Jack and Elizabeth see their old college friends pairing off and starting families, and they are left by themselves. After having a child of their own, they find that they long for their college years where they lived as a collective rather than a set of individuals.

Jack and Elizabeth live in a new world where they see perfection everywhere. From the houses on Instagram to the (mostly imagined) worlds of their fellow parents, it’s easy to find the faults in their lives. Jack needs to work out to lose weight and Elizabeth needs to make the perfect plates of food for their son, all while juggling their busy lives together. But they just aren’t sure if this is all there is. They recall the artist’s life they had in college and yearn for something deeper.

Finding the answers to these problems means confronting their troubled and abusive pasts and envisioning a future together where maybe everything isn’t perfect.

For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your preferred podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.

-Justin