Wish You were Here by Jodi Picoult. The story of two people in their 30s, living in NYC and planning a getaway trip to the Galapagos – where she’s sure he’s going to propose – when Covid arrives and spoils their plans. He’s a doctor and the hospital where he works cancels all leave, but he says she should go instead. The book is told in two parts – the first being that change to their plans and then her time on the island, and the second part back in NYC where the full effects of Covid are being felt. Less of a moral dilemma than is her usual style but certainly a book for our times. 

Taste: My Life in Food by Stanley Tucci. A memoir about his lifelong love of food – he grew up in an Italian American family where gathering round the dinner table every night was integral to their family life. It talks about the foodie films he’s been in – Julie and Julia – and has recipes, some excellent thoughts on cocktails – the martini – and is warm and chatty and very much like the man himself. 

Jane Mackenzie joined Francesca Rudkin. 

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