Wellness by Nathan Hill is set in the 1990s when Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students amid a vibrant art scene in Chicago. The novel follows the ups and downs of their relationship over the next 20 years through to middle age when they are married with a young son. Jack is a photographer while Elizabeth works at a wellness lab specialising in using placebos to treat disorders. The character development is exceptionally detailed, although some of the deep dives about psychology and algorithms could have been a little more concise. Still, unlike most doorstopper novels which deal with complex social issues – ‘Wellness’ is a hefty 600+ pages – it doesn’t take itself too seriously thanks to Hill’s sharp eye for humour and cynicism. I enjoyed Hill’s debut The Nix a lot and his second novel doesn’t disappoint. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for sending me a review copy via NetGalley. Continue reading
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Books I Read in January 2024
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The Nix by Nathan Hill
‘The Nix’ by Nathan Hill tells the story of Samuel Andresen-Anderson, a thirty-something college professor with writer’s block whose estranged mother Faye is arrested for throwing rocks at a conservative Presidential candidate and subsequently portrayed in the media as a radical hippie. Samuel is on the verge of being sued by his publisher for failing to produce the novel he received a huge advance for several years earlier and in order to avoid bankruptcy, he must write a biography of his mother who he hasn’t seen for over twenty years. However, his quest for information about Faye reveals that she has a far more complex past than he ever imagined. Continue reading
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