Oprah Winfrey Book Club picks Florida author Nathan Hill for 'Wellness,' a marriage story

O wow: Call it one of the best-kept secrets in Florida for the past six months.

Author Nathan Hill learned during a Zoom call in March from Oprah Winfrey herself that his new book "Wellness" would be the September pick for her book club.

"It was shocking, it was wonderful," Hill, of Naples, Florida, said Monday, Sept. 25.

"At that point, nobody had read the book outside of my small circle. Imagine what it’s like when the first person outside that circle to read it is Oprah Winfrey. It was really, really surreal and great."

In an interview with the Naples Daily News, Hill discussed what life has been like since Oprah's Sept. 19 announcement that she chose his book.

Oprah Winfrey called Florida author Nathan Hill about 'Wellness.' But he had to keep it secret, for a while

When Hill learned in March that Oprah chose his book, next came the hard part: He had to not tell anyone about it until Winfrey wanted to announce it.

That meant, when someone asked Hill how he thought the book would sell, he had to not let on that it likely would skyrocket to the New York Times bestseller list.

“It was a fun secret to keep but also agonizing," Hill said. "Now I feel great being unburdened with the secret."

After the news went public, Hill said, he "had eight straight hours of text and emails coming in."

"It was pretty fantastic and we had a small party at my place that night," he said.

Author Nathan Hill of Naples, Florida, wrote 'Wellness' and 'The Nix'

Hill said he approached "Wellness" the same way he wrote "The Nix," his 2016 bestselling about a son-mother relationship that weaves in American political and pop culture. Hill called that book "literary fiction, a family mystery."

In "Wellness," he focuses on family again. The book is set primarily in 2014 and begins in the 1990s, when the book's two main characters, Jack and Elizabeth, fell in love as college students.

“I'd say that it’s a marriage story about two dreamers who meet each other when they're very young and fall in love instantly," Hill said.

The book then fast-forwards 20 years later, as the two find challenges raising a family while trying to recapture their youthful passion.

“Everyone has that first-love-kind-of story," Hill said. "But if you’re with anyone for some length of time, the relationship changes. The book is about all the transitions we make in life."

Does author Nathan Hill have kids? No, but he wrote about raising kids when he and his wife have none

Before "The Nix" published, Hill said, he began working on "Wellness" in late 2015.

He took a break for a while as he toured the country discussing "The Nix" for about 2½ years. By the time the tour ended, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he focused entirely on writing "Wellness."

“I was interested in writing a marriage story," Hill said. "And I remembered this short story I had written a long time ago, in my mid-20s."

Hill, 47, and his wife, Jenni Groyon Hill, a bassoonist with the Naples Philharmonic, visited with their closest friends in Naples "who all had children at the same time."

"So I had this sort of front-row seat of what parenthood is like for new parents," Hill said.

"I was going over there, talking to my friends, visiting with them, seeing it for myself. And they're my closest friends and very honest about parenthood, both its joy and downsides. I felt I got a really unfiltered view of what parenthood is like, especially parenthood in our information environment."

Author Nathan Hill: Friends talked about 'constantly failing at parenthood.' He explored that disconnect

Hill said he would watch his friends being great parents "and hear them talking about how they're constantly failing at parenthood."

That's not what he observed at all, Hill said, so he "wanted to explore that disconnect."

Hill in the book thanks those same friends who "were generous with their time and energy."

And what do they think of the book? "They are all reading it right now," Hill said.

He also credited his wife her help as she did with "The Nix." Hill would read her a chapter and she would offer her opinion.

"We did the same thing. It’s a good test for me," he said. "She likes to laugh, and if she doesn’t laugh at a joke, I know it's time to revise.”

Florida author Nathan Hill meets Oprah Winfrey, talks 'Wellness' and book club

Hill met Oprah in person for the first time when they appeared last week on the CBS Mornings when Gayle King interviewed them.

"She was warm, she was sincere," Hill said of Winfrey. "She put you at ease immediately. I was really impressed with her thorough knowledge of the book. Both Oprah and Gayle had read it, read it more than once, and their conversation was very high level.”

In the interview, Winfrey said she has a team that reads books and forwarded "Wellness" to her.

"I really appreciated your ability to take language and draw us into the story in such a modern, contemporary, vibrant way," she told Hill in the seven-minute segment.

What happened to "The Nix" becoming a movie, starring Meryl Streep and directed by J.J. Abrams?

At one point, there was talk of making the book into a film or TV series, starring Meryl Streep ("Mamma Mia!" "The Iron Lady" and "Only Murders in the Building" season three) and directed by J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens").

"We had some momentum there and the pandemic shut everything down," Hill said.

"I’m moving on from that. My agent is out there, ever hopeful, but who knows.”

Writers who inspired Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick author Nathan Hill

He named two: John Irving and Virginia Woolf.

Irving spoke to Hill as he was growing up when the acclaimed author wrote about a young man living in Iowa City, Iowa, home of the University of Iowa (where Hill earned his bachelor's degree), and wanted to become a novelist, in "The Water-Method Man."

Hill also referred to Woolf's 1926 novel "Mrs. Dalloway," saying that he "never saw someone capture the twists and turns of the mind so well."

With his writing, Hill said he doesn't describe a lot of action like things blowing up, adding: "I like to take the stuff we all deal with and write in a way that feels dramatic."

Naples writer: Oprah selects Florida author Nathan Hill for her latest book club pick

What's next for Florida author Nathan Hill, who wrote 'Wellness' and 'The Nix'

Hill on Sept. 26 was heading out on his book-signing tour, with his first stop Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota, followed by Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn, New York; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Concord, New Hampshire; and Tampa.

He's also scheduled to read from "Wellness" at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Barnes and Nobles in Naples. The tour picks up in mid-October, with stops in his native Iowa followed by Kansas, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, California and ending in Key West on Nov. 19.

Hill also will appear for two "Critic's Choice" discussions on "Wellness" at Artis―Naples in January with Elaine Newton, Ph.D., professor emeritus of humanities at York University in Toronto.

Earlier in September, The New York Times reviewed "Wellness" and compared it often to "The Nix."

"In both novels, Hill intertwines past and present with militaristic precision, revealing the ways his characters’ histories come to bear inexorably, unambiguously on their present lives," the review said.

Author Nathan Hill's advice to future novelists

Hill, who once taught writing at Florida Gulf Coast University, offered a few tips for writing a book.

First, try to write every day even if it's only a page or less.

And perhaps even more importantly, Hill said: "“Write the story that only you can write."

"It’s this weird phenomenon but it's true," he added, "that the more personal it is, the more real it feels to readers.”

Dave Osborn is the regional features editor of the Naples Daily News and News-Press. Follow him on Instagram and Threads @lacrossewriter.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Meryl Streep, JJ Abrams, Oprah. Author Nathan Hill's ties to the stars