If like me you love Ann Patchett novels, then her latest State of Wonder will not disappoint! Not to mention that this book has been touted in O, People and on every list of must read books!
In this latest Patchett novel we meet Marina Singh, a pharmaceutical company employee dispatched to the remote Amazon after news of the death of a colleague. Marina, who spends all day in lab in Minnesota, is hardly the logical choice for an adventure in the Amazon. Patchett seems to understand that for some of us, we can’t help but be dutiful in our role.
Mr. Fox, the head of the company and Marina’s secret lover, trades on Marina’s sense of duty sending her on this mission. It is obvious to the reader, and eventually to Marina, that Mr. Fox is really only concerned about the money and the secret work of Dr. Swenson. It also becomes obvious that this miracle feminine fountain of youth is not all it’s cracked up to be as Marina tells Mr Fox, “I don’t care how primitive these women are, if they understood what they were doing that was causing them to remain fertile unto death they’d stop doing it”.
As only Patchett can do, the reader is pulled into layers of story lines and sub plots so deeply that at times you are so captivated by the now, you almost forget how you got here – that is until Patchett pulls you right back. Along with captivating story lines Patchett fills the pages with circumstances so real you can imagine it could actually happen (I’m sure if for some reason I was sent off the Amazon I wouldn’t be Indiana Jones either – count me next to Marina with nightmares, lost airplane luggage, lost cell phone – twice, never learning any of the native language…).
State of Wonder is a must read for this summer!
Harper Collins provided a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
What are you reading and where are you going?
I just had to come by and search to see if you’d reviewed this. I also saw it on every list of must reads for the summer and grabbed the “quick read” 7 day library loan of it, never expecting to be able to read it in 7 days (mostly because of my 2 and 4 year old!). But I did! I did it in 5! It was excellent. Now on to Exposure for our SITS book club.