Wish You Well: Summary and book reviews of Wish You Well by David Baldacci, plus links to an excerpt from Wish You Well and a biography of David Baldacci.

Whether it is the story of a young woman on the run in The Winner or a violent intrigue convulsing Washington, D.C., in Saving Faith, David Baldacci has delivered great stories, authentic characters, and thought-provoking ideas since he burst on the literary scene with Absolute Power. Now this versatile writer sets his sights on a new field of fiction. Wish You Well ...is the story of Louisa Mae Cardinal, a precocious twelve-year-old girl living in the hectic New York City of 1940 with her acclaimed but sadly underpaid writer father, her compassionate mother, and her timid younger brother, Oz. For Lou, her family's financial struggles are invisible to her. Instead, she is a daughter who idolizes her father and is in love with the art of storytelling. Then, in a single, terrifying moment, Lou's life is changed forever, and she and Oz are on a train rolling away from New York and down into the mountains of Virginia. There, Lou's mother will begin a long, slow struggle between life and death. And there, Lou and Oz will be raised by their remarkable great-grandmother, Louisa, Lou's namesake. Suddenly a girl finds herself coming of age in a landscape that could not be more foreign to her. On her great-grandmother's farm, on the land her father loved and wrote about, Lou finds her first true friend; learns lessons in loyalty, tragedy, and redemption; and experiences adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. When a dark, destructive force encroaches on their new home, Lou and her brother are caught up in another struggle-a struggle for justice and survival that will be played out in a crowded Virginia courtroom. In Wish You Well David Baldacci has written a tale laced with touching passages evoking the charms of rural Virginia, imbued with graceful humor, and enriched by with unforgettable characters. The novel is a heart-wrenching yet triumphant story about family and adversity from times past that resounds forcefully today. Wish You Well is a breathtakingly beautiful achievement from an author who has the power to make us feel, to make us care, and to make us believe in the great and little miracles that can change lives-or save them.

Media Reviews

People Magazine A master storyteller   Publishers Weekly Baldacci triumphs with his best novel yet...This novel has a huge heart--and millions of readers are going to love it.   Library Journal Baldacci turns from political thrillers to historical fiction in this affecting novel whose richly textured setting of southwestern Virginia in the 1940s draws on the reminiscences of his mother and grandmother...Whether Baldacci's fans will enjoy this change of pace remains to be seen, but readers of historical fiction will welcome his debut in the genre.

Recent Reader Reviews

Rated of 5 by Killer37
wish you well
This book was awesome. I loved it, especially when they moved in with their grandmother, and the character Oz almost made me cry. Overall this book is amazing!

Rated of 5 by Sal
Great Book
It was a really good book. Fast paced, lots of unexpected events. The problem was, it was so sad.... :( Nearly cried with the deaths that happened. They shouldn't have happened. And I wish they never did.

Rated of 5 by broom
Diamond
I enjoyed the book

Rated of 5 by I hated it
Horrible
This book drove me to new levels of depression. I hope this book dies off as quickly as I'm about to if I had to read this book again.

Rated of 5 by Jennifer
Awesome book!
I loved it one. Of the best books I have ever read in my life!

Rated of 5 by ERNEST VLEAL
THE CHARACTERS WILL STAY WITH YOU
With most of the novels I read, (I tend to focus on particular authors) I may come away satisfied that the book was "a good read" - interesting story, suspense in the plot and hard to figure "who done it" - but, after a while...   Read More

...18 More Reader Reviews

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Books with similar themes

• Novels
  
• Adult-YA Crossover
  
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• Tenn. Va. W.Va. Ky. 
  
• 1940s & '50s 
  
• Adult Books From A Child's Perspective 
  
• Coming of Age 
  
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