Wellness

'American storytelling at its era-spanning best . . . An immersive, multi-layered portrait of a marriage, Nathan Hill’s follow-up to The Nix is a work of quiet genius.' – The Observer 'The incredible scope of this dazzlingly detailed state-of-the-nation satire almost defies description . . . Brilliant doesn’t begin to describe it, but I’ll say it anyway.' – Daily Mail 'I doubt I'll enjoy many books this year as much as Wellness .' – The Times An Oprah's Book Club Pick. Moving from the gritty 90s Chicago art scene to a suburbia of detox diets and home renovation hysteria, Wellness is a story of marriage, middle age, our tech-obsessed health culture, and the bonds that keep people together. 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 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 lives: each other. From the author of The Nix , Wellness mines the absurdities of modern technology and modern love to reveal profound, startling truths about intimacy and connection, reimagining the love story with healthy doses of insight, irony and heart. "American storytelling at its era-spanning best . . . An immersive, multi-layered portrait of a marriage, Nathan Hill’s follow-up to The Nix is a work of quiet genius . . . tackling a few big questions. What is truth? What is love? And therefore, inevitably, what is true love?" - The Observer "The incredible scope of this dazzlingly detailed state-of-the-nation satire almost defies description . . . Brilliant doesn’t begin to describe it, but I’ll say it anyway." - Daily Mail "Future historians, read this book . . . a crackling, witty chronicle of the world of the urban creative classes from the 1990s to now . . . I doubt I'll enjoy many books this year as much as Wellness ." - The Times "A reader emerges from Hill’s world of Wellness with a keener eye for the tragicomic maladies of marriage, and a greater ear for the strangely affecting rhythms and algorithms of 21st-century life." - The Guardian "A bewitching, sophisticated book" - Financial Times " Wellness is not some naive, crunchy-granola midlife-crisis novel . . . [it] is a clear-eyed look at the difficulty to live honestly in a world where authenticity may be the most challenged idea of all." - The Washington Post "A clever satire on America's self-deluding 'wellness' class . . . The variety and ingenuity of Hill's satirical prods – from real-estate development to Facebook algorithms – is impressive." - The Telegraph "This soulful satire takes aim at everything from gentrification to 'life hacks'. But it's also ambitious – and some nifty plotting by Hill reveals just how entangled contentment is with the stories we tell about ourselves." - The Mail on Sunday "A compassionate satire of messy America" - i news "Hill's storytelling abilities are impressive . . . His novels vividly capture lonely Midwestern childhoods and real yearning for connection and understanding." - The New York Times " Wellness