Paperback 400 pages
I was lucky enough to visit Patchett's bookstore Parnassus in Nashville, Tennessee while in town to see two comedians perform at the Ryman. The added bonus to visiting this beautiful store was that all of her in-stock novels were signed. The Olive Hill editions are compact and similar in size to a mass market paperback, but have the nice page quality of a standard trade paperback. These special editions are published by Harper Perennial as part of their 50th anniversary. There are your nerdy publishing details- onto the content!
Marina Singh studies lipid levels and statin medications (all relating to cholesterol) at the drug company Vogel in Minnesota. At the start of the story, the CEO of the company walks into the lab with a letter penned by Dr. Swenson from the Amazonian Rain Forest in Brazil regretfully informing them that Marina's lab partner Anders has died of an apparent fever. There is little information and Marina is devastated. She has worked for years in close proximity to Anders, with over 50 hour work weeks. Dr. Swenson has been funded by this company to do research on a drug that will hopefully be tested in the markets soon. However, she has mostly gone off the grid and little is known of her research and status. Marina is inevitably asked to travel to the rainforest by the company. She agrees for three reasons- mostly to provide information to Ander's grieving family, to find out what the actual development stage is of the drug in question, and also because she always does what is asked by her superiors. Thus starts a wild, compelling narrative as Marina travels to South America and attempts to locate the rogue Doctor.
WRITING:
Patchett is very down to earth and personal in her writing. I was happy that I read her non-fiction collection of essays (This is the Story of a Happy Marriage) last year. She is an honest writer. This particular reader feels like she would be a great person to share coffee and donuts with while chatting about life in your kitchen. She is extremely relatable. There is a great literary quality to her work as well and I enjoy how she crafts a sentence.
PLOT: I have the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandemeer on my TBR (about scientist's who go on an expedition to Area X and attempt to investigate it's hostile mysteries for the government). I enjoy these adventure stories about trips to the unknown and appreciated Patchett's plot. I imagine researching these stories would be quite the bear and commend these brave authors!
PACING: Satisfactory. There was a sense of foreboding the entire time as the Jungle is full of harmful insects, snakes, and who-knows-what lurking in the river. However, a lot of the time a scientist obviously spends in a lab so the pace reflected that.
CHARACTERS: Patchett excels due to aforementioned writing skills. While Marina was obviously heavily fictionalized, there were shreds of Patchett's personal life present as well. A professional woman who is married to an older man, has decided not have children, and had a brief failed marriage when very young. There was a depth to this character that was reflected from this personalization.
Sometimes it feels like a big character study. Patchett just gets people. Whether describing a researcher in the jungle, a hostess at a restaurant, or a front desk clerk, within a couple paragraphs you feel you understand them as more than a one-dimensional character.
FINAL RATING: 4 STARS
This was a highly atmospheric book based on the extreme climate descriptions- the harsh cold of Minnesota or the sweltering heat and thick humidity of the rain forest. There was good commentary on indigenous people and our innate desire to "Americanize" everything. The book also addresses the relationship between students and mentors and the skewed perspective that often occurs due to hero worship. All of this combined with great storytelling and characters made this a great read.
I did have some problems with the end. There were weird elements to the conclusion and a scene I felt was more than a little surprising and strange- departing from how I thought the characters would behave after all they'd been through. I also thought it was a bit abrupt. However, I still recommend to any literary fiction lover as an entertaining and thoughtful story about an unfamiliar place, the wonders of nature, and the moral complexities of drug research.
