R E A D I N GG R O U P G U I D E

WARNER BOOKSDavid Baldacci, in all countries except in the countryof my ancestors, Italy, where I am compelled to pub-lish under a pseudonym. The reason for this require-ment remains unclear to me!

Nearly 20 million copies of my books are in printw o r l d w i d e .

Castle Rock Entertainment made Absolute Powerinto a major motion picture starring Clint Eastwoodand Gene Hackman. The novel Absolute Power w o nB r i t a i n ’s W.H. Smith’s Thumping Good Read Aw a r dfor fiction in 1997, and was nominated for a literaryaward in Italy.

Total Contro l was sold to Columbia TriStar for af o u r-hour mini-series to be aired on CBS. The paper-back version of Total Contro l was a bestsellingfavorite of the traveling public for over one year,even though it opens with a plane crash.

The Wi n n e r’s sales topped those of my first two nov-els, no doubt aided by revealing in the novel how tofix the lottery and win a hundred million dollars! T h eWi n n e r received a starred review in P u b l i s h e r sWe e k l y, its highest rating.

The Simple Tru t h was the first of my novels in whichpart of the plot was based upon an actual event.President Clinton selected The Simple Tru t h as hisfavorite novel of 1999.

Saving Faith is a novel about how Washington reallyd o e s n ’t work, and why so many people are just finewith that. During my research for the novel, I spentso much time with politicians that I briefly contem-plated running for office, until my wife sensibly put astop to that nonsense. Saving Faith reached numberone on the Publishers We e k l y national bestseller list.

My books have been publicly discussed and/or readby everyone from Howard Stern and Don Imus toNewt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, from Georg eBush and Bill Clinton to Charlie Rose and LarryK i n g .

I am currently working with producers Lee Rich,Karen Spiegel, and Paramount Television on a televi-sion mystery series that is being developed in con-junction with a television series created by two othern o v e l i s t s .

I have made many television and radio appearancesincluding the To d a y s h o w, CNN, CNNfn, CSPA N ,

OTHER BOOKS BY DAVID BALDACCI:

Absolute PowerSaving Faith

The Simple Tru t hTotal Contro lThe Wi n n e r

About the author ofWISH YOU WELL,D AVID BALDACCI

I was born in Richmond, Vi rginia, in 1960. Ireceived a Bachelor of Arts in political science fromVi rginia Commonwealth University and a law degreefrom the University of Vi rginia. I practiced law fornine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial lawyerand a corporate lawyer.

I am married, have two children, and remain in myhome state, Vi rg i n i a .

I have published five novels—Absolute Power,Saving Faith, The Simple Truth, Total Control, a n dThe Wi n n e r—and have completed my sixth novel,WISH YOU W E L L, scheduled for release October24, 2000. I have also published a novella for theDutch entitled Office Hours, written for Holland’sYear 2000 “Month of the T h r i l l e r.” I was featuredwriter for this year’s celebration.

My works have also been published in U S A To d a ym a g a z i n e , B r i t a i n ’s Tatler m a g a z i n e , New Statesman,U VA L a w y e r, I t a l y ’s Panorama magazine, andG e r m a n y ’s Welt am Sonntag.

I have also authored six original, but unproduced,screenplays, the most current of which has nothing todo with murder or mayhem. It is a family drama setin the South during 1940, and it is the inspiration formy newest novel, WISH YOU W E L L.

My works have been translated into over 30 lan-guages and sold in more than 70 countries, which farexceeded my rather modest ambition of becoming ashort-story writer, content with receiving free copiesof the publication my story appeared in as payment.All of my books have been national and internationalbestsellers. I am published under my real name,

AVAILABLE AT LOCAL BOOKSTORES

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MSNBC, Late, Late Show with Tom Snyder, Fox News,C o u rt TV, BBC, and NPR, and I have been featured innational and international publications.

My wife and I participate in numerous charities, and Isit on boards at the Library of Vi rginia, the MultipleSclerosis Society, the Vi rginia Blood Services, andVi rginia Commonwealth University. I also hold varioushonorary chairs.

Visit our Web site at www.twbookmark.com© 2000 TIME WARNER TRADE PUBLISHING, INC. PRINTED IN USA

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READING GUIDE: WISH YOU WELLBY DAVID BALDACCI

This guide is designed to enhance your readingexperience of WISH YOU W E L L by DavidBaldacci. Whether it is the story of a young

woman on the run in The Wi n n e r or a violent intrigueconvulsing Washington, D.C., in Saving Faith, D a v i dBaldacci has delivered great stories, authentic charac-ters, and thought-provoking ideas since he burst on theliterary scene with Absolute Power. Now this versatilewriter sets his sights on a new field of fiction withWISH YOU W E L L. This compelling and touching taleof the human spirit, set in the southwest Vi rg i n i amountains, reveals the power of family, endurance, and triumph.

Southwest Vi rginia, 1940. WISH YOU W E L L is thestory of Louisa Mae Cardinal, a precocious twelve-y e a r-old girl living in the hectic New York City of1940 with her acclaimed but sadly underpaid writerf a t h e r, her compassionate mother, and her timid young brother, Oz. For Lou, her family’s financialstruggles are invisible to her. Instead, she is a daughterwho idolizes her father and is in love with the art ofs t o r y t e l l i n g .

Then, in a single, terrifying moment, Lou’s life ischanged forever, and she and Oz are on a train rollingaway from New York and down into the mountains ofVi rginia. There, Lou’s mother will begin a long, slowstruggle between life and death. And there, Lou and Ozwill be raised by their remarkable great-grandmotherLouisa, Lou’s namesake.

S u d d e n l y, a girl finds herself coming of age in a land-scape that could not be more foreign to her. On herg r e a t - g r a n d m o t h e r’s farm, on the land her father lovedand wrote about, Lou finds her first true friend, learnslessons in loyalty, tragedy, and redemption; and experi-ences adventures tragic, comic, and audacious. When adark, destructive force encroaches on their new home,Lou and her brother are caught up in another strug-gle—a struggle for justice and survival that will beplayed out in a crowded Vi rginia courtroom.

In WISH YOU W E L L, David Baldacci has written atale laced with touching passages of rural Vi rg i n i a ,imbued with graceful humor, and laden with unforg e t-table characters. The novel is a heart-wrenching yet

triumphant story about family and adversity from timespast that resounds forcefully today. WISH YOU W E L Lis a breathtakingly beautiful achievement from anauthor who has the power to make us feel, to make uscare, and to make us believe in the great and little miracles that can change lives—or save them.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1 . B a l d a c c i ’s eloquent use of language in WISH Y O UW E L L transforms readers to another time and place—a time when A m e r i c a ’s agrarian existence was begin-ning to transform into industrialization and a placewhere the land was the heart and soul of the communi-t y. What are Lou and Oz’s first impressions of thesouthwest Vi rginia mountains?

2 . Louisa Mae Cardinal believed that one must bewilling to listen and learn from the land. How doesLouisa Mae help begin this process for Lou and Oz?What does Louisa Mae mean when she states that themountains have a lot of secrets?

3 . Lou and Oz, both, make ultimate sacrifices at thewishing well. How does Baldacci use old letters fromJack and Amanda Cardinal to build the characters?What are the underlying meanings attached to thewishing well and the letters?

4 . Eugene and Diamond shared a unique relationship.Why would Eugene permit Diamond to refer to him as“Hell No” and be so adamantly opposed to others usingthe name? What similarities did the two share thatmight have given them a common bond?

5 . Social and/or economic poverty was prevalent in thesouthwest Vi rginia mountains of 1940. What are thecomplex characteristics of Louisa Mae’s “love-hate”relationship with the mountain? How does this aff e c tthe assimilation of Lou and Oz to their new environ-m e n t ?

6 . Injustice prevails in our society, past and present.What are some examples of injustice in the novel andhow do they shape the many characters?

7 . Natural resources have always been valuable assetsto any geographic setting. In WISH YOU W E L L, whatdoes the mayor of Dickens mean when he hails that,“Coal is King?” What connections can be made togaining prosperity through despair?

8 . Several scenes in the novel refer to the characters’actions and reactions that deal with human life andits value. What underlying story or stories do thesereferences create?

9 . Children have difficulty sometimes learning totrust others when they have lost a loved one. Howand why does Lou come to trust Cotton Longfellow?

1 0 . Baldacci makes several references to threats tothe land. What are the references and how do thecharacters react to them?

1 1 . During the early part of the 20th century, industrialization claimed various American rurallandscapes for the sake of “economic gain and mod-ernization.” What affects of industrialization didBaldacci express in this novel and how did the characters react to them?

1 2 . In the novel, the mountains seem to be livingbeings. Why is that important in the overall contextof the story? What point is Baldacci attempting toc o n v e y ?

1 3 . The character of George Davis is, on one level,totally evil. Seen in another light what are some ofhis attributes that might be applauded by societytoday and what does that say about our priorities andthe types of people who are richly rewarded underour economic system?

1 4 . What messages about organized religion andfaith in God do you find in the novel?

1 5 . What does the outcome of the trial say about thelegal system in this country?

1 6 . Is the courtroom battle at the end of the novelsimply a fight for land rights or does it have more todo with competing ways of life?

1 7 . The novel makes a distinction between farmerson the mountain and those people making their livingin the towns. This geographic grounding permeatesthe perspectives of the inhabitants in the story andfinds them often at odds. Is there any way to recon-cile these disparate views?

1 8 . Louisa Mae Cardinal believes she would neverbe as happy anywhere else as on the mountain eventhough she has never seen any other places. Can sucha view be valid and rational, or must one experienceother places before one can reach such a conclusion?

1 9 . The novel deals with prejudice and hatred at theindividual rather than group level. Is that an impor-tant distinction?

2 0 . Southern Valley officials made the argument thatthe importance of preserving the mountains shouldnot take precedence over using its resources to ensureeconomic prosperity for people. At what point, if any,does that argument fail?

2 1 . Cotton Longfellow remarks that people oftenspend much of their lives chasing dreams they knowwill probably never come true, and also that that ten-dency may be part of what makes us human. Do youagree with that statement, and if so, why?

2 2 . Lou has great trouble believing that her motherwill get better, while Oz’s faith never wavers. Do you believe that the older we get, the less we believein the possibility of miracles? Is that solely becauseof the accumulated failures most suffer in life whichchip away at the idealism of youth, or is there anoth-er reason?

2 3 . Diamond never attended school and yet seems tohave a great deal of wisdom about life. From wheredo you think he principally draws that wisdom?

2 4 . Does living off the land make people more prac-tical, or are practical people drawn to making a livingfrom the land? What other lessons can be drawn fromyour answer to that question? What is Baldacciattempting to convey with those references?

2 5 . Jack Cardinal wrote about the mountains thoughhe never returned to them. Do you think his writingwould have been enhanced if he had returned, or doyou believe it better that his perspective was from hisyouth rather than as an adult?

2 6 . What do you think is symbolized by the recur-rent screams from the woods when there is danger toLou and Oz, and, finally, by the panther scene?

2 7 . Lou and Oz learned much about their family’spast in the novel. The conveyance of such familialknowledge is a major theme in the story. Do peopletoday care about the past as a guidepost to the future?Should we place more emphasis on oral historiesand lessons learned from our ancestors? Or is thefuture so different now that the past holds little valuefor us?

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