When a car
accident kills their father and leaves their mother in a coma, Lou and Oz leave
NYC to go to live with their great-grandmother in the mountains of Virginia. Wish You Well
by David Baldacci is a paean to the simple life and polemic against logging and
mining. It is also a story about miracles. “Maybe the wishing well did work. Or
perhaps it was the unwavering faith of a little boy.”
Lou, great-granddaughter of Louisa Mae
Cardinal is twelve when she moves to the remote mountains of Virginia (no
electricity, no phone) with her brother, Oz. As educated New Yorkers, conflicts
arise, but they are outspoken, willing to work hard and fight if necessary. The
first day at school, Lou beats up the class bully, and in court, when the evil
corporation wants to steal great-grandmother’s land, Oz yells, “It’s wrong.
That man is a liar.”
As might be expected in a morality
tale, Lou, Oz, and great-grandmother always take the high road, and the forces
of evil never do.
Lou looked angry. “That’s not fair.
[The evil neighbor] sells his crop and makes money, and we feed his family.”
“What’s fair is a momma and her
children eating good,” answered [great-grandmother.]
Most problems in the book are solved from
outside, not by the direct efforts of the protagonists. In this book of faith
and miracles, the protagonists lead virtuous lives and providence takes care of
them. This includes being attacked by wild animals, barn burning down, and
mother’s coma.
Great grandmother Louisa Mae Cardinal
is a strong and savvy woman. Pretty much everyone is afraid of her. She is no
one’s fool, nor does she suffer fools. When a nurse arrives with the two
children and the mother in a coma, she expects to be accommodated. “I suffer
from…allergies… I have certain specific dietary needs… I will also require free
reign in overseeing the children… Now you can show me to my room.”
Great-grandmother replies, “Fact is,
we ain’t got room for you.”
When the nurse protests, the point is
reinforced with, “Now, I’m too old to waste time firing a warning shot.”
David Baldacci broke away from his
genre to write this autobiographical-inspired novel in 2000. The following year John
Grisham did the same (The Painted House]. In 2014 John Grisham wrote a similar polemic
[Gray Mountain] against the coal companies, where a female protagonist moves
from NYC to the mountains of Virginia. The two men are close in age, from the
South, and friends.
A story of good vs evil, poor farmers vs greedy companies and
neighbors. Not a spoiler: good triumphs.
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