“Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett’s fiction.”—New York Times Book Review
Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett returns with a provocative and assured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest. Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotional urgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels Bel Canto, Taft, … novels Bel Canto, Taft, Run, The Magician’s Assistant, and The Patron Saint of Liars, Patchett delivers an enthrallingly innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in State of Wonder—a gripping adventure story and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.
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Fascinating character study as one scientist travels deep into the Amazon to find another, with secrets, science and corporate imperatives crashing against each other like waves on sharp rocks. Driven by its female characters’ actions and desires in a way that is all too rare.
Amazon. Scientists. A tribe with extraordinary fertility. “He used to say we all had a compass inside of us and what we needed to do was to find it and to follow it.” – Quote told by Dr. Saturn (male) as heard from Dr. Rapp
This book is a short read but with the jumping of timelines it was hard for me to get into. From dreams to reality to …
Beautifully written, it’s a trip deep into the rainforest with an unusual concept at its core.
A book club sister had recommended this novel, & I read it to consider as a book club selection for our group. It is an unusual story combining scientific research and a mystery.
My favorite book by Ann Patchett and one I highly recommend!
Great sense of the Amazon, but totally preposterous premise and ending.
With this book, Ann Patchett may have invented a new genre of fiction – the pharmaceutical mystery!
At the center of the story is a fortyish, female research physician, Dr. Singh, whose lab partner has gone off to get an update on a miracle drug, currently under development deep in the Amazon rainforest. When word comes back that the partner has …
I found it so interesting I couldn’t stop reading.
Ann Patchett’s 2005 novel Bel Canto ranks in my top ten reads. It was a glorious experience of gorgeous prose and a gripping narrative. One of those rare novels I didn’t want to put down and hated to finish.
State of Wonder, published six years later in 2011, did not engage me with anything near the force of the earlier novel. The basic idea of …
Extremely well -written and interesting all the way through. The depictions of the Amazon make you really feel as if you are there along with the snakes and humidity. Exciting and thought-provoking.
I think the story is original and the characters are really well developed. However I found myself at times, not wanting to finish the book. I just was not as engaged with the writing as some people are. If you are into birds, botany, and the amazon, you will definitely like this fiction book. I am glad I did finish the book, the ending was point …
Great story – very interesting!
Just loved it! Never met a book of Ann Patchett’s that I didn’t love!!
I love Ann Patchett’s writing–the details of place and time, the engrossing, original characters. When I picked this one up, I had already been to the Amazon, gone up the river to Manaus, weathered the extreme heat and humidity. As I read this novel, I felt as if I were re-living my time there: the heavy rains, the unrelenting sun, the …
Love how she writes and her characters!
Love her books! This was my favorite of hers, in fact it’s on my top 20 list (I read about a book a week) of all time. Loved the characters, loved the story, loved that it included scientific aspects. GREAT book.
I like this author and I love this book
One of my very favorite books!
This “literary” novel was a page-turner. Amazing and wild read.
What an amazing novel! The way Ann Patchett leads you into Brazil and down the Amazon is astounding. She insidiously immerses you in the bizarre experience in such incremental stages that you don’t realize what she is doing to your mind. Three quarters of the way through the novel, you begin to accept life in the deepest reaches of that strange …