Wish You Well

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More About This Book

Overview

Precocious 12-year-old Louisa Mae Cardinal lives in
the hectic New York City of 1940 with her family.
Then tragedy strikes--and Lou and her younger brother,
Oz, must go with their invalid mother to live on their
great-grandmother's farm in the Virginia mountains.
Suddenly Lou finds herself coming of age in a new
landscape, making her first true friend, and experiencing
adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. But the forces
of greed and justice are about to clash over her new
home . . . and as their struggle is played out in a crowded
Virginia courtroom, it will determine the future of two
children, an entire town, and the mountains they love.

Editorial Reviews

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Our Review
As one of the bestselling writers of legal thrillers like Absolute Power, David Baldacci is known for his hair-raising plots and fast-paced suspense. But in a significant departure from his usual fare (though the end result is no less compelling), Baldacci slows things down a bit for his latest saga, Wish You Well, a story he culled from his own family's history and experiences. It's a coming-of-age tale reminiscent of that timeless classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, where the setting -- Virginia mountain coal country in the post-Depression '40s -- is as much a character as any of the people who walk the pages.

The lives of 12-year-old Lou Cardinal and her eight-year-old brother, Oscar ("Oz"), are forever altered when an auto accident takes the life of their writer father and leaves their mother in a catatonic state. Used to the hectic bustle of New York City, they find themselves transplanted to the mountain cabin home of their great-grandmother, Louisa Mae Cardinal. Their new home has no electricity or running water, and their food comes not from any grocery store but from the barn and the land. Their new neighbors are simple folk, many of them poor, uneducated, and worked to the bone. But beneath them all is The Mountain, with its power to mesmerize and nurture their minds and their souls.

Though Lou rebels against her new life at first, she eventually grows to appreciate her hardscrabble existence, rising before dawn to milk the cows, attending school in a one-room schoolhouse, and then working till dusk to prepare, plant, and harvest crops. Her great-grandmother's simple lifestyle, boundless spirit, and obvious love of The Mountain become contagious. But there is plenty of ugliness here, too, not the least of which is the pervasive poverty and prejudicial ignorance subscribed to by some. When a greedy corporate entity enters the picture, Baldacci takes his readers into territory more familiar, culminating the tale in a highly satisfying David-and-Goliath-style courtroom battle.

The title is an apt one, a reference to Oz and Lou's childish wishes and their belief in things wondrous and magical, a belief that often slams up against the harsh truths of reality. Yet in the end, something magical does prevail. And although all the characters in this tale may not survive, the mystical allure of The Mountain and its effect on those who come to know it, does.

--Beth Amos

Patty Rhule
Wish You Well has plenty of appealing elements.
— USA Today
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
Baldacci is writing what? That waspish question buzzed around publishing circles when Warner announced that the bestselling author of The Simple Truth, Absolute Power and other turbo-thrillers--an author generally esteemed more for his plots than for his characters or prose--was trying his hand at mainstream fiction, with a mid-century period novel set in the rural South, no less. Shades of John Grisham and A Painted House. But guess what? Clearly inspired by his subject--his maternal ancestors, he reveals in a foreword, hail from the mountain area he writes about here with such strength--Baldacci triumphs with his best novel yet, an utterly captivating drama centered on the difficult adjustment to rural life faced by two children when their New York City existence shatters in an auto accident. That tragedy, which opens the book with a flourish, sees acclaimed but impecunious riter Jack Cardinal dead, his wife in a coma and their daughter, Lou, 12, and son, Oz, seven, forced to move to the southwestern Virginia farm of their aged great-grandmother, Louisa. Several questions propel the subsequent story with vigor. Will the siblings learn to accept, even to love, their new life? Will their mother regain consciousness? And--in a development that takes the narrative into familiar Baldacci territory for a gripping legal showdown--will Louisa lose her land to industrial interests? Baldacci exults in high melodrama here, and it doesn't always work: the death of one major character will wring tears from the stoniest eyes, but the reappearance of another, though equally hanky-friendly, is outright manipulative. Even so, what the novel offers above all is bone-deep emotional truth, as its myriad characters--each, except for one cartoonish villain, as real as readers' own kin--grapple not just with issues of life and death but with the sufferings and joys of daily existence in a setting detailed with finely attuned attention and a warm sense of wonder. This novel has a huge heart--and millions of readers are going to love it. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780446699488
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
  • Publication date: 4/3/2007
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 432
  • Sales rank: 48,877
  • Lexile: 0840L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.30 (w) x 7.80 (h) x 1.40 (d)

Meet the Author

David Baldacci
David Baldacci
A Washington, D.C.-based lawyer-turned-author, David Baldacci writes legal thrillers that are as tightly constructed as they are authoritative. Readers know his books, with their cinematic plots and colorful details, are sure to offer the sort of breathless entertainment that thrillers always promise but can’t always deliver.

Biography

David Baldacci's authoritative legal thrillers operate on the irresistible notion that a sinister undercurrent threads through the country's most powerful institutions.

While his stories hinge on the complex machinations behind the presidency, the FBI, the Supreme Court and other spheres of influence, Baldacci (a former Washington, D.C.-based attorney) finds his way into a mystery through the eyes of the innocents. Semi-innocents, at least: small players who often don't realize they're players at all end up hunting down answers, and their hunt becomes the reader's.

According to Baldacci, reading John Irving's The World According to Garp convinced him that he wanted to be a novelist. Absolute Power -- in which a thief finds himself accidentally connected to a murder involving the president and the ensuing coverup -- was hardly Irvingesque; but it did begin Baldacci's friendly relationship with the bestseller lists, which has continued over his writing career.

Baldacci's style is brief and plot-driven, but he's not afraid to linger on macabre and vivid details, such as a rosary clenched in a plane crash victim's hand, or hard-learned lessons from a sniper's life (pack your food so you can find it at night, by touch). These small but memorable -- indeed, almost cinematic -- details give his books another layer that distinguishes them from the average potboiler.

Although the author has occasionally departed from his usual fare (examples include the tenderhearted coming-of-age tale Wish You Well and the holiday-themed adventure The Christmas Train), it is high-octane thrillers that are his true stock in trade. Whether it's a taut stand-alone or a new installment in his Camel Club series, readers know when they crack the spine of a new Baldacci book, they're in for an action-packed page-turner.

.

Good To Know

Baldacci was a trial lawyer and a corporate lawyer for nine years in Washington, D.C.

He worked his way through college as a Pinkerton security guard and by washing and detailing 18-wheel trucks.

Baldacci writes under his own name except when published in Italy, where he uses a pseudonym because it is the homeland of his ancestors.

Bill Clinton selected The Simple Truth as his favorite novel of 1998, according to Baldacci's web site.

    1. Hometown:
      Northern Virginia
    1. Date of Birth:
      November 30, 1959
    2. Place of Birth:
      Richmond, VIrginia
    1. Education:
      B.A. in Political Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1983; J.D., University of Virginia, 1986
    2. Website:
      http://www.david-baldacci.com/

Read an Excerpt



Chapter One


THE AIR WAS MOIST, THE COMING RAIN telegraphed by plump, gray clouds, and the blue sky fast fading. The 1936 four-door Lincoln Zephyr sedan moved down the winding road at a decent, if unhurried, pace. The car's interior was filled with the inviting aromas of warm sourdough bread, baked chicken, and peach and cinnamon pie from the picnic basket that sat so temptingly between the two children in the backseat.

Louisa Mae Cardinal, twelve years old, tall and rangy, her hair the color of sun-dappled straw and her eyes blue, was known simply as Lou. She was a pretty girl who would almost certainly grow into a beautiful woman. But Lou would fight tea parties, pigtails, and frilly dresses to the death. And somehow win. It was just her nature.

The notebook was open on her lap, and Lou was filling the blank pages with writings of importance to her, as a fisherman does his net. And from the girl's pleased look, she was landing fat cod with every pitch and catch. As always, she was very intent on her writing. Lou came by that trait honestly, as her father had such fever to an even greater degree than his daughter.

On the other side of the picnic basket was Lou's brother, Oz. The name was a contraction of his given one, Oscar. He was seven, small for his age, though there was the promise of height in his long feet. He did not possess the lanky limbs and athletic grace of his sister. Oz also lacked the confidence that so plainly burned in Lou's eyes. And yet he held his worn stuffed bear with the unbreakable clench of a wrestler, and he had a way about him that naturally warmed other's souls. After meeting Oz Cardinal,one came away convinced that he was a little boy with a heart as big and giving as God could bestow on lowly, conflicted mortals.

Jack Cardinal was driving. He seemed unaware of the approaching storm, or even the car's other occupants. His slender fingers drummed on the steering wheel. The tips of his fingers were callused from years of punching the typewriter keys, and there was a permanent groove in the middle finger of his right hand where the pen pressed against it. Badges of honor, he often said.

As a writer, Jack assembled vivid landscapes densely populated with flawed characters who, with each turn of the page, seemed more real than one's family. Readers would often weep as a beloved character perished under the writer's nib, yet the distinct beauty of the language never overshadowed the blunt force of the story, for the themes imbedded in Jack Cardinal's tales were powerful indeed. But then an especially well-tooled line would come along and make one smile and perhaps even laugh aloud, because a bit of humor was often the most effective tool for painlessly driving home a serious point.

Jack Cardinal's talents as a writer had brought him much critical acclaim, and very little money. The Lincoln Zephyr did not belong to him, for luxuries such as automobiles, fancy or plain, seemed forever beyond his reach. The car had been borrowed for this special outing from a friend and admirer of Jack's work. Certainly the woman sitting next to him had not married Jack Cardinal for money.

Amanda Cardinal usually bore well the drift of her husband's nimble mind. Even now her expression signaled good-natured surrender to the workings of the man's imagination, which always allowed him escape from the bothersome details of life. But later, when the blanket was spread and the picnic food was apportioned, and the children wanted to play, she would nudge her husband from his literary alchemy. And yet today Amanda felt a deeper concern as they drove to the park. They needed this outing together, and not simply for the fresh air and special food. This surprisingly warm late winter's day was a godsend in many ways. She looked at the threatening sky.

Go away, storm, please go away now.

To ease her skittish nerves, Amanda turned and looked at Oz and smiled. It was hard not to feel good when looking at the little boy, though he was a child easily frightened as well. Amanda had often cradled her son when Oz had been seized by a nightmare. Fortunately, his fearful cries would be replaced by a smile when Oz would at last focus on her, and she would want to hold her son always, keep him safe always.

Oz's looks came directly from his mother, while Lou had a pleasing variation of Amanda's long forehead and her father's lean nose and compact angle of jaw. And yet if Lou were asked, she would say she took after her father only. This did not reflect disrespect for her mother, but signaled that, foremost, Lou would always see herself as Jack Cardinal's daughter.

Amanda turned back to her husband. "Another story?" she asked as her fingers skimmed Jack's forearm.

The man's mind slowly rocked free from his latest concocting and Jack looked at her, a grin riding on full lips that, aside from the memorable flicker of his gray eyes, were her husband's most attractive physical feature, Amanda thought.

"Take a breath, work on a story," said Jack.

"A prisoner of your own devices," replied Amanda softly, and she stopped rubbing his arm.

As her husband drifted back to work, Amanda watched as Lou labored with her own story. Mother saw the potential for much happiness and some inevitable pain in her daughter. She could not live Lou's life for her, and Amanda knew she would have to watch her little girl fall at times. Still, Amanda would never hold out her hand, for Lou being Lou would certainly refuse it. But if her daughter's fingers sought out her mother's, she would be there. It was a situation burdened with pitfalls, yet it seemed the one destined for mother and daughter.

"How's the story coming, Lou?"

Head down, hand moving with the flourishing thrust of youthful penmanship, Lou said, "Fine." Amanda could easily sense her daughter's underlying message: that writing was a task not to be discussed with nonwriters. Amanda took it as good-naturedly as she did most things having to do with her volatile daughter. But even a mother sometimes needed a comforting pillow on which to lay her head, so Amanda reached out and tousled her son's blondish hair. Sons were not nearly so complex, and as much as Lou wore her out, Oz rejuvenated his mother.

"How're you doing, Oz?" asked Amanda.

The little boy answered by letting out a crowing sound that banged off all sides of the car's interior, startling even the inattentive Jack.

"Miss English said I'm the best rooster she's ever heard," said Oz, and crowed again, flapping his arms. Amanda laughed and even Jack turned and smiled at his son.

Lou smirked at her brother, but then reached over and tenderly patted Oz on the hand. "And you are too, Oz. A lot better than me when I was your age," said Lou.

Amanda smiled at Lou's remark and then said, "Jack, you're coming to Oz's school play, aren't you?"

Lou said, "Mom, you know he's working on a story. He doesn't have time to watch Oz playing a rooster."

"I'll try, Amanda. I really will this time," Jack said. However, Amanda knew that the level of doubt in his tone heralded another disappointment for Oz. For her.

Amanda turned back and stared out the windshield. Her thoughts showed through so clearly on her features.

Life married to Jack Cardinal: I'll try.

Oz's enthusiasm, however, was undiminished. "And next I'm going to be the Easter Bunny. You'll be there, won't you, Mom?"

Amanda looked at him, her smile wide and easing her eyes to pleasing angles.

"You know Mom wouldn't miss it," she said, giving his head another gentle rub.

But Mom did miss it. They all missed it.

Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4.5
( 168 )

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  • Posted December 9, 2008

    more from this reviewer

    powerful character-driven historical novel

    In 1940s New York City, twelve years old Louisa Mae ¿Lou¿ Cardinal hero-worships her father, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer. Lou¿s dream is to become as highly regarded as he is, but she is unaware of how little money her dad Jack earns. Considered by critics one of the best authors of his generation, Jack is considering Hollywood in order to feed his family of four.

    Lou¿s idyllic world crashes when her beloved father dies in a car accident. With her mother in shock, Lou and her younger brother Oz are displaced and move to their great-grandmother¿s remote Virginia farm. The two siblings begin to heal, but a new fight to save their new home is on the horizon.

    WISH YOU WELL is a powerful character-driven historical novel that provides the audience a look at the bone marrow of emotions of the key players during tragedy. Readers will take to heart Lou, Oz, their mom, and their great-grandmother. The support cast augments the tale with even deeper glimpses of the Cardinals. Although David Baldacci overdoes the melodrama and reverts to a well-written courtroom climax, WISH YOU WELL is a great look at daily survival during a period of intense grief and displacement.

    Harriet Klausner

    11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 27, 2007

    bane

    Baldacci is writing what? That waspish question buzzed around publishing circles when Warner announced that the bestselling author of The Simple Truth, Absolute Power and other turbo-thrillers--an author generally esteemed more for his plots than for his characters or prose--was trying his hand at mainstream fiction, with a mid-century period novel set in the rural South, no less. Shades of John Grisham and A Painted House. But guess what? Clearly inspired by his subject--his maternal ancestors, he reveals in a foreword, hail from the mountain area he writes about here with such strength--Baldacci triumphs with his best novel yet, an utterly captivating drama centered on the difficult adjustment to rural life faced by two children when their New York City existence shatters in an auto accident. That tragedy, which opens the book with a flourish, sees acclaimed but impecunious riter Jack Cardinal dead, his wife in a coma and their daughter, Lou, 12, and son, Oz, seven, forced to move to the southwestern Virginia farm of their aged great-grandmother, Louisa. Several questions propel the subsequent story with vigor. Will the siblings learn to accept, even to love, their new life? Will their mother regain consciousness? And--in a development that takes the narrative into familiar Baldacci territory for a gripping legal showdown--will Louisa lose her land to industrial interests? Baldacci exults in high melodrama here, and it doesn't always work: the death of one major character will wring tears from the stoniest eyes, but the reappearance of another, though equally hanky-friendly, is outright manipulative. Even so, what the novel offers above all is bone-deep emotional truth, as its myriad characters--each, except for one cartoonish villain, as real as readers' own kin--grapple not just with issues of life and death but with the sufferings and joys of daily existence in a setting detailed with finely attuned attention and a warm sense of wonder. This novel has a huge heart--and millions of readers are going to love it.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 1, 2005

    Excellent

    I have enjoyed Mr. Baldacci's other works, but I can tell this one was special and came straight from his heart. A wonderful story.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted November 20, 2011

    WOW!

    I have had this book for awhile and just got around to reading it. I certainly wasn't expecting to find that it was the best book I have read this entire year. In fact, I am going to buy it for 2 family members for Christmas. It is rare that a book is so well written that you see, feel and even smell the characters and their surroundings. I hope Baldacci will someday give us more of this kind of story. All books should be this entertaining.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 9, 2008

    A reviewer

    I just finished this wonderful book. It takes me back to my Grandmother's house with the smell of sugar cookies in the old oven. All I can say, it's a wonderful book and will tear at your heart strings.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 27, 2000

    Surprising Opinion

    I can sum up my opinion of Wish You Well in 1 word, but since I am long-winded, I will elaborate. I was furious when I found out that Mr. Baldacci had a new book coming out that was not his usual blood-pumping, nail-biting style of writing. I vowed I would not read this book. Well, I was bookless, which all book lovers know is a fate worse than death, so I broke my vow and bought the book; a decision I do not regret. One word is all it takes to sum up my opinion. EXTRAORDINARY--extraordinary characters, extraordinary setting, extraordinary circumstances, and I repeat extraordinary characters. While it will always be my preference to read books that get my blood flowing, Wish You Well, was a nice change of pace. I would have given it 5 stars, but why risk Mr. Baldacci never again writing another thriller. This book is a keeper!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 7, 2000

    Captivating

    This book is full of honesty, integrity and values told very gently and with depth. It is captivating. It has real life drama. I bought it on audiotape and will listen to it again and again. I highly recommend the tape. It is very well read. I also plan to read the book. Initially I was surprised that it did not follow his previous books' storylines, but it is equally well written-- and it keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next shoe to drop.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 3, 2012

    Great story.

    Who knew Baldacci could do anything other than gritty political intrigue? I sure as heck didnt. Great story telling with emotional elements. I really recommend this book. Go Giants.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 22, 2012

    enjoyed

    Decided to read as it was a"CNY Reads" 2011 choice and a prior Oprah recommendation. Thought it was well written. Kept me interested.

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  • Posted December 10, 2011

    Excellent read.

    Loved this book. A very good read.

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  • Posted September 19, 2011

    Different from his "norm" but a must read!

    This is unlike David Baldacci's normal genre but is probably my favorite of all his books. The story line is well written and will grab and hold you from beginning to end. Wish he had more books like this!

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  • Posted July 27, 2011

    Very good but very oldschool

    I read this book and it was ok. My mom read it, and loved it. She said lou remindes her of me. Anyway, I liked it but it was too oldschool for me

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  • Posted April 11, 2011

    baldaccis best book

    one of the best books i have ever read.

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  • Posted January 21, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Baldacci portrays a wonderful, moving story.

    I have read several of Baldacci's books. i.e., Total Control, The Simple Truth, and Saving Grace and I have enjoyed all these novels. This book, if you are not aware, is a major departure from his normal genre. I suppose he is following in the paths of Grisham, Patterson, Hiaasen, and Parker by stepping out of their genre to create human interest, and young adult type stories. I think it's great that these gifted authors are creating such wonderful stories, (A Painted House, by Grisham comes to my mind) especially those stories for the young adult group.
    I thought this book was a wonderful, relaxing tale. It has its sad parts but it is still a heartwarming story. The author's descriptive scenes of the beautiful rural Virginia during the 1930's were terrific. Don't expect any mysterious killers, car crashes, love scenes, just a homegrown country story that is very enjoyable.
    In summary, I think it's a moving story with richly portrayed characters that I encourage you to read.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 25, 2010

    best book ever!!!

    This is my all-time favorite book. I would recommend this to all teenagers AND adults!

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  • Posted December 6, 2010

    a heart warming story

    a departure from his usual crime dramas this book is astep back in time.A truly heart warming story . Makes you appreciate what you have in life.This book is one of his best.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 28, 2010

    Very good book

    This was one of those books that was just hard to put down. I really couldn't tell you just what it was, but I really got into it. Certain parts of the ending were kinda predictable. I mean, the good guys always win in the end, even though it's not really a good guys vs. bad guys type of story.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 24, 2010

    Not a Great Read

    I found this book to be boring and had a hard time finishing it for our Book Club. The plot is weak and uninteresting.

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  • Posted March 9, 2010

    Great Read

    David Baldacci seems to write in a way that I like to read. I have enjoyed many of his books but this one was different. This book was a "wow."

    This is an extraordinary short novel. Anyone who likes to read abut growing up and facing great difficulties and overcoming will like this book.

    J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

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  • Posted December 22, 2009

    Something different

    I really didn't know what to expect from this Baldacci book. It was such a departure from any of his others that I was honestly leery. I truly enjoyed this book. It seems that the only time I have to read is while travelling, and I read the whole book on a flight from Ireland to Boston. So, an easy read, sensitive, poignant, touching. I really, really liked this story.

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