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Jul 20, 2019EljayJohnson rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It probably would have gotten five stars except for some disappointment at the ending. I've read two other Patchett novels - Bel Canto and The Magician's Assistant - and I loved Bel and didn't like Magician's. So, this was the tiebreaker for me and I very much enjoyed it. Not unlike Bel this was about an ordinary person (she was from Eden Prairie, MN!) in extraordinary circumstances. Marina Singh is a research pharmacologist who is sent by her firm to the Amazon after a colleague dies there when he is checking up on a scientist doing research who has been out of communication for a long period of time. I really don't want to give anymore details because a great deal of the pleasure in reading this novel is having events unfold in front of you while you're in a - well, um - state of wonder. Like Bel, Patchett has written another novel that is both wonderfully and compellingly plotted and peopled, and also an invitation to ruminate on deep issues of ethics, sacrifice, loyalty, etc. I wasn't wild about the ending, which felt more like a stop than a conclusion, but otherwise a wonderful book.