Jodi Picoult. “Losing control of my life made me take over the character”

Diana, 30, has a prestigious job at Sotheby’s and a surgeon boyfriend who is set to propose to her on their dream holiday in the Galapagos. But Finn is forced to cancel and Diana, who is left alone, remains on the island due to Covid… i wish you were here Jodi Picoult paints a portrait of a woman who sees her existence turned upside down by a pandemic, while bending the codes of romance. feel good thanks to a clever twist.

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Madame Figaro. – How did you start writing about Covid?
Jodi Picoult:I’m asthmatic, when the world stopped, so I had a risk profile, I stayed indoors. Losing control of my life made me want to take over the life of the hero. Then the epidemic happened so quickly that we forgot the first days, and I wanted to write a novel that would keep the memory alive. I had heard of a Japanese tourist who got stuck at Machu Picchu during this time. He gradually integrated into the community, and local residents eventually petitioned the government to allow him access to the sites he had originally come for. I liked the idea of ​​someone ending up in heaven while the rest of the world lives in hell. I have never been to Machu Picchu, but I have visited the Galapagos, where Darwin set up his laboratory. And the theory of evolution says that organisms must learn to adapt or they will disappear, which seems to me to be a perfect metaphor for Covid.

Usually you travel to document your creations. How did you do here?
I’ve done Zoom interviews. I interviewed a man who, like my heroine, was stranded in the Galapagos during an epidemic. He introduced me to the locals who became his friends. I also interviewed the people who built the ventilators, as well as over forty doctors and nurses. These professionals were thirsty to express themselves. they were on the front lines of the battle and wanted to fight the misinformation Donald Trump was spreading at the time.

We have all learned to rejoice in things that we have not even noticed or taken for granted.

Jodie Picoult

Your heroine throws away her planned life…
I wanted to recall the upheavals associated with this period, which we all experienced in one way or another. Many have gotten sick, some have died, but we’ve all learned to look forward to things we don’t even notice or take for granted, like the chance to see family or travel. For me, the premiere of a musical I had been working on for eight years was canceled by the closing of Broadway. It affected me a lot, but at the same time two of my children and their husbands were isolated near our house, we ended up merging our bubbles and it allowed me to spend precious time with them. And that I felt was a huge gift. It is also for this reason I wish you were hereis a novel of love and loss, but also of survival and endurance.