If you have never read anything by Ann Patchett before, A State of Wonder is a great place to start. It has a little bit of everything: action, adventure, mystery, but most of all, great writing. A State of Wonder follows the journey of Dr. Marina Singh as she travels from the safe suburban town she calls home deep into the the Amazonian jungle to track down both her dead colleague (Anders Ekman’s) body and her former boss’ on-going research into a drug which may provide women prolonged fertility and mean an end to menopause.
As Singh travels off into the wilderness, she is forced to confront a great deal of her past, her choice to switch from obstetrics to pharmaceuticals, and her decision, at forty, to not have any children. Things are complicated by the fact that Dr. Singh’s lover is Dr. Fox, the deep pockets behind the on-going research, but also someone who the researchers hope to keep in the dark for as long as possible.
Patchett managed to keep me on the edge of my seat over and over again as she interspersed jungle survival stories of snakes and seventy year old women giving birth with limited medical supplies with Marina’s very personal search for self.
Despite the jungle setting, the main characters in Patchett’s book are strong women – Dr. Singh, who spends most of the book questioning her decisions, and Dr. Swenson, the 73-year-old woman leading the jungle research. Dr. Swenson is a tough character who has the upper hand in the jungle and manages to instill fear in the hearts of pretty much everyone she meets.The two women are strong contrasts to each other, but also play against each other well to illustrate very effectively their strengths and weaknesses.
While there were times I had to hold my breath because the scene was so exciting, there were also times when the book seemed slightly over constructed. Everything in the book seems to illustrate a very important point the author is trying to make, so much so that it sometimes gets a little bit much. Many characters seem to be constructions to fulfill a point, rather than solidly developed characters.
Overall though, I would give A State of Wonder 4/5 stars. It is well worth a read, and it really is strong writing and a fascinating story. Patchett is a gifted writer and one who is well worth giving a test drive.
