Wellness

Wellness follows Jack and Elizabeth, a married couple in Chicago navigating their relationship amid the complexities of modern life. Jack works as a university professor while Elizabeth pursues success in real estate, with their diverging paths creating tension in their marriage. The narrative moves between the present day and the couple's origin story in the 1990s at a small Midwest college, where they first met as students. Through these parallel timelines, the story explores how their individual and shared histories shape their current circumstances. The novel examines contemporary American life through the lens of technology, social media, wellness culture, and real estate development. It tracks how these forces impact relationships, personal identity, and the pursuit of happiness in the digital age. At its core, the book confronts questions about authenticity and self-improvement in an era where the line between genuine connection and curated experience continues to blur. The narrative considers what it means to be "well" in both individual and societal contexts.

Readers appreciate Hill's observations about modern life, technology, and relationships. Many note his ability to weave multiple timelines and storylines together, with several comparing his style to Jonathan Franzen. The humor and social commentary resonated with readers who found themselves reflecting on their own screen time and relationships. Common criticisms include the book's length (608 pages) and pacing, with some readers finding the middle section repetitive. Multiple reviewers mentioned struggling to connect with or care about the main characters, particularly Elizabeth. Ratings: Goodreads: 4.0/5 (8,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (1,000+ ratings) Sample reader comments: "Sharp observations about how phones and social media have rewired our brains" - Goodreads "Could have been 200 pages shorter without losing impact" - Amazon "Characters feel more like vehicles for social commentary than real people" - Goodreads "Nails the absurdity of modern parenting and wellness culture" - LibraryThing

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🔖 Nathan Hill spent a decade writing "Wellness," his second novel, which explores modern life's technological distractions and societal obsessions with self-improvement. 🌟 The book's structure mirrors our fragmented digital age, alternating between 2015 and the 1990s, reflecting how past and present interact in the age of social media. 📱 Hill drew inspiration from his own experience of watching his wife scroll through wellness influencers on Instagram, which helped shape the novel's exploration of digital wellness culture. 🎓 Before becoming a novelist, Hill taught writing at Florida Gulf Coast University and worked as an associate editor for The Iowa Review. 🏆 The author's debut novel, "The Nix" (2016), received widespread acclaim and was nominated for the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction.