Ann Patchett's latest novel, State of Wonder, takes you to the jungles of the Brazilian rainforest. Marina Singh, a researcher for a multinational pharmaceutical company leaves behind her life in Minnesota when she learns that her friend and colleague, Dr Anders Eckman, has died while working in the Amazon. While there she is given the task to investigate and report back on the research being done on a possible new drug in development. Issues of morality and scientific ethics are brought into play upon confronting the eccentric Dr. Annick Swenson. We also witness Marina having to adapt and navigate this unfamiliar wild territory. This book explores relationships, it's a murder mystery and a jungle adventure with surprises right up to the end.
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Ann Patchett builds a plot slowly and skillfully. We sympathize with an intelligent, modest woman - the medical researcher, who is accustomed to her life in a quiet, sterile environment and equally tranquil mid-western prairie leaving to face the noise, dirt, and strangeness of the Amazon jungle. Is she up to task or adventure of it? The description of her life and personality would lead you to believe no, but that is the beauty of the author's writing. She takes her characters and their circumstances and puts them into situations that are outside their normal comfort zone.
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