In State of Wonder we follow the tale of 42 year old Dr. Marina Singh. Marina is a research scientist working for a pharmaceutical company in Minnesota, a far cry from her earlier ambitions to be an OB/GYN. The story starts off with C.E.O. (and lover to Dr. Singh) Mr. Fox coming to show Marina a simple letter sent from Marina's former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, telling of the death of her
research partner, Dr. Anders Eckman, who has died of a fever in a remote
part of Brazil.
The news floors Marina and she along with Mr. Fox must deliver the news to Anders' wife. Not surprisingly Mrs. Eckman does not take the news well, she worries about their three boys and is not happy that her husband's body has been buried in some remote jungle without her. Soon she begs Marina to travel to Brazil and attempt to bring his body home however she starts to doubt if he is really even dead. Next thing you know Mr. Fox is on the same page and also wants to send Marina to Brazil. However his motives are a bit different, he wants Marina to make contact with Dr. Swenson and see how her research is going. Despite being funded by Mr. Fox's company for years, Dr. Swenson is secretive, refuses to carrying a satellite phone or check in in anyway.
The story flies from there! The mystery surrounding Anders' death. What is really going on with Dr. Swenson's research? Research on a new fertility drug that will allow women to have babies very late in life. Living in the middle of the jungle with an indigenous tribe and exactly how dangerous is the nearby tribe of supposed cannibals?
I really liked State of Wonder. I've read some review where people have said the story moves too slowly but I didn't think so at all. And some quotes:
“Hope is a horrible thing, you know. I don't know who decided to package
hope as a virtue because it's not. It's a plague. Hope is like walking
around with a fishhook in your mouth and somebody just keeps pulling it
and pulling it.”
“It is said the siesta is one of the only gifts the Europeans brought to
South America, but I imagine the Brazilians could have figured out how
to sleep in the afternoon without having to endure centuries of murder
and enslavement.”
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