State of Wonder - by Ann Patchett (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A nail-biting narrative, setting stark human dilemmas against a lush, exotic backdrop."-- People

"Extraordinary. . . . Nothing is as it seems, and the ending is as shocking as it's satisfying." -- Boston Globe

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett, a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest

In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, State of Wonder presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional resonance and moral complexity.

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she's forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness.

Stirring and luminous, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy. Patchett delivers a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

From the Back Cover

In a narrative replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, scientific miracles, and spiritual transformations, State of Wonder presents a world of stunning surprise and danger, rich in emotional resonance and moral complexity.

As Dr. Marina Singh embarks upon an uncertain odyssey into the insect-infested Amazon, she will be forced to surrender herself to the lush but forbidding world that awaits within the jungle. Charged with finding her former mentor Dr. Annick Swenson, a researcher who has disappeared while working on a valuable new drug, she will have to confront her own memories of tragedy and sacrifice as she journeys into the unforgiving heart of darkness. Stirring and luminous, State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss beneath the rain forest's jeweled canopy.

Review Quotes

"Her best novel....These pages have a pulsing, seductive rhythm... The wonder of State of Wonder is that Patchett poses essential philosophical and bioethical arguments in a story that still speeds along like a literary thriller, reaching a tremendous, deeply emotional crescendo. Bella scrittura." - Time magazine

"Packs a textbook's worth of ethical conundrums into a smart and tidily delivered story. . . . Ms. Patchett presents an alluring interplay between civilization and wilderness, between aid and exploitation." - Wall Street Journal

"In her most incisive work yet, Patchett achieves alchemy, creating complex, compelling characters, packing a Ph.D.'s worth of scientific knowledge into a nail-biting narrative, setting stark human dilemmas against a lush, exotic backdrop." - People

"Outlandishly entertaining...[with] a brilliantly constructed plot." - Elle

"[A] gripping new novel. . . . Patchett has an uncanny knack for writing stories about complex characters to whom things actually happen. True to form, she manages to braid questions of medical and social ethics alongside encounters with cannibals, anacondas, even an opera house, making this a bubbling stew of a novel." - Marie Claire

"Extraordinary. . . . Is there nothing the prodigiously talented Ann Patchett can't do? . . . Patchett's last knockout pages proceed full-speed ahead, with more twists and turns and trachery than the Amazon River. Nothing is as it seems, and the ending is as shocking as it's satisfying." - Boston Globe

"Patchett makes the jungle jump off the page...This is Patchett's best effort since The Patron Saint of Liars and, yes, that includes Bel Canto" - Shelf Awareness

"The Amazon setting is something Patchett does rather marvelously.... The book is serious, but also so pleasurable that you hope it won't end." - NPR

"Emotionally lucid. . . . Patchett is at her lyrical best when she catalogues the jungle." - The New Yorker

"An engaging, consummately told tale." - New York Times

"This is surely the smartest, most exciting novel of the summer." - Washington Post

"A thrilling new novel. . . . The world imagined in this novel is unusually vivid. . . . Reading State of Wonder is a sensory experience, and even after it's over you'll keep hearing the sounds of insects, and your own head will still be hot."

"A spellbinder from bestselling author Patchett. . . . Thrilling, disturbing and moving in equal measures--even better than Patchett's breakthrough Bel Canto." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A superbly rendered novel. . . . Patchett's portrayal is as wonderful as it is frightening and foreign. Patchett exhibits an extraordinary ability to bring the horrors and the wonders of the Amazon jungle to life, and her singular characters are wonderfully drawn. . . . Powerful and captivating." - Library Journal (starred review)

"A thrilling new novel. . . . The world imagined in this novel is unusually vivid. . . . Reading State of Wonder is a sensory experience, and even after it's over you'll keep hearing the sounds of insects, and your own head will still be hot." - MORE Magazine

"The large canvas of sweeping moral issues, both personal and global, comes to life through careful attention to details, however seemingly mundane--from ill-fitting shoes and mosquito bites to a woman tenderly braiding another woman's hair." - O, the Oprah Magazine