State of Wonder Book Review

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As part of our challenge to read through the 100 Bestseller List presented in The Bestseller Code, I read Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder (Book #99 on the list).  In State of Wonder, Dr. Marina Singh works for a pharmaceutical company in Minnesota.  The story begins with her boss/lover, Mr. Fox, reading her a letter stating that her co-worker and friend, Anders Eckmann, has died at the company’s research site in the remote Amazon jungle.  Dr. Eckmann was sent to Brazil to discern the progress of research into a fertility drug, research led by Dr. Annick Swenson.  Since Dr. Swenson was an early mentor of Marina’s, Mr. Fox believes that Marina will be able to complete Eckmann’s mission to bring back the information, and so he sends Marina to Brazil.

This book couldn’t have been more different from our previous read, Shutter Island, #100 on the list.   While Shutter Island grabbed my attention from the very beginning, I quite literally felt as though I were slogging through the Amazon jungle, hacking a pathway through the first third of State of Wonder.

Read the rest of my review over at It’s A Mystery Blog.