State of Wonder by Anne Patchett

SPOILERS. 

Awesome, but not the winner of the Orange prize.

I loved this book, I thought it was amazing. One of those wonderful discoveries of literary books that is also completely readable and enjoyable. I wanted to read it again, study it and pick it apart to discover all the nuances that I missed, or join a book club just to discuss it. I found the plot surprising yet satisfying and I liked the portrayal of the characters and the way that they seemed to develop throughout the story.

It concerns the journey of Marina Singh to the Amazonian jungle to discover what has happened to her colleague Anders Eckhart. Marina reluctantly undertakes the journey prompted by the entreaties of Anders’s widow and the insistence of her part-time boyfriend and boss Mr. Fox. 

Marina begins the novel as a particularly hesitant character. Although she is at ease in her work and projects a capable image to the outside world, she is haunted by the loss of her father, a particularly distressing caesarean she performed which ended her career as an obstetrician and by her feelings towards Mr. Fox and Anders. Marina seems to fear intimacy with other people and she does not seem to have any friends outside her workplace, this fear has caused her to focus on her career which has in turn led to feelings of loss of her opportunity for marriage and children. She has trouble asserting herself and a lack of certainty about her own identity, spending much of the first part of the book wearing other people’s clothes and allowing people to boss her around. Her experience of travelling gradually ‘strips away’ Marina’s issues and allows her to experience a re-birth where she deals with the issues that have affected her life and settles on a proper identity. 

Marina meets with her former supervisor Dr. Swenson, who is researching both a cure for the menopause which will allow women to continue to be fertile for their whole lives and a cure for malaria. This raises interesting questions about when fertility should end for women and how big a role science should play in prolonging it, as well as the way that medicine is funded and what priorities it has (Dr. Swenson realises that only by pretending that she is researching the miracle fertility drug which will lead to big money for Dr. Fox’s company will she be able to research the cure for Malaria which may save thousands of lives but is worthless to Dr. Fox as it is unprofitable). 

Dr. Swenson and Rudd (her former mentor whom she describes but has been dead for some time in the book) are both portrayed as being unafraid, uncompromising, controlling characters that are admirable in their achievements yet not particularly likable characters. Dr. Swenson attempts to hand-over her life’s work to Marina, but Marina is resistant. She also provides a kind of absolution, allowing Marina to forgive herself for the botched caesarean. 

Mr. Fox is also not a particularly likable character – he doesn’t seem to care that much about Marina, interferes with Dr. Swenson’s work and only seems to care about the potential fertility drug. It is unsurprising that Marina seems to realise that she is not in a relationship of any worth with him by the end of the novel. She hasn’t confided in him about the end of her career as an obstetrician. 

Dr. Swenson bravely tests the fertility drug on herself but proves that unlimited fertility outside the jungle is not viable by giving birth to a sirenomelian (mermaid) child. Swenson is not that concerned about the death of the baby as she has focused her attention on her deaf foster-son, Easter, whom Marina also looks at as a potential foster son. Marina also tries the miracle tree bark which is supposed to prolong fertility and finds that it fills a sort of void and she feels addicted to it. 

It is only once she has discovered what has really happened to Anders that she is able to leave the jungle and return to her life. She finds him living amongst a cannibal tribe and rescues him, but in the process loses Easter, whom Dr. Swenson had ‘kept’ after treating him for the disease which led to his deafness. Dr. Swenson is furious, as like Marina she sees Easter as some sort of compensation for giving up the chance of having children for the sake of her career. Experiencing a brief moment of intimacy with Anders ends Marina’s addiction to the bark and she can finally move on. 

The book leaves the reader with plenty of questions to speculate on. I found some in a review which I would like to write about: 

1)Did Easter escape the Hummoca tribe and return to the Lakashi and Dr Swenson?

No. I don’t think he did, he stayed with his parents or his tribe as he didn’t belong amongst the Lakashi or with Dr. Swenson. The ironic thing was that Dr. Swenson believed that people should leave things as they are as much as possible, she just wanted a child but on her own terms – she was never really bothered about babies. 

2)Was Dr Swenson unethical in her keeping of Easter and not returning him to the Hummoca? Was Easter better off with the Hummoca? Should Singh have acted differently in the exchange? Dr. Swenson’s feelings were understandable, but she never really asked Easter or the Hummoca what their feelings about it were, she just acted as if she knew best, which is horribly colonial way of looking at things. I think Singh acted in pretty much the only way she could in the exchange. 

3) Did Singh return to the Lakashi and Dr Swenson? Did she tell Mr Fox the truth about the research? Did Anders tell Fox the truth? Should they?

No, I have a feeling Marina went and looked for another job as soon as she got home, and Anders possibly did as well.  I think they both re-assessed their priorities. Anders spends more time with his family and Maria leaves Mr. Fox behind. I don’t think they should tell the truth either. 

4) Were the mushrooms physically addictive as a narcotic as Singh came to suspect?

Yes. Nothing that pleasurable comes without a down-side, if it doesn’t, it should do or else we might as well just spend our entire lives high as kites robbing mushrooms off each other.  

5) Was it ethical to deliberately give the male Lakashi malaria without their knowledge?

It was unethical, but arguably the ends justified the means. It was another example of Dr. Swenson’s racism treating the natives like monkeys. Some reviews questioned the portrayal of the ‘natives’, but I think that it was deliberate because that was the way Singh saw them and the book was from the point of view of the white scientists not from their point of view.  

6) Who was the father of Swenson's unborn child?

Probably one of the scientists, although I don’t necessarily think that it would bother Dr. Swen to use native sperm it might have mucked up her experiment. Or perhaps she got Rudd to ‘contribute’ although that probably would’ve taken more forethought, planning and equipment than she probably had. I don’t think it was Anders unless he didn’t know about it, I think it would’ve freaked him out. 

Anyway, I look forward to reading some more Patchett in the future.