will lightbody is a man with a stomach ailment whose only sin is loving his wife eleanor too much eleanor is a health nut of the first stripe and when in 1907 she journeys to dr john harvey kelloggs infamous battle creek spa to live out the vegetarian ethos poor will goes too so begins t coraghessan boyles wickedly comic look at turnofthecentury fanatics in search of the magic pill to prolong their lives or the profit to be had from manufacturing it brimming with a dickensian cast of characters and laced with wildly wonderful plot twists jane smiley in the new york times book review called the road to wellville a marvel enjoyable from beginning to end