State of Wonder

Novel by Ann Patchett

I know, I know...I said I was going to read some young adult historical fiction next, to prepare for a class I'm teaching. But I had this Amazon gift card burning a hole in my...account. So I had to check out Ann Patchett's newest, and I am oh-so glad I did. I couldn't put this one down.  By now you know I am kind of a softie. I've read books I haven't liked but none that I couldn't find at least something nice to say about. But this one, oh, I'm not just being nice. I'm ready to go check out all her other books because I loved this one, and the last one I read (Bel Canto) so much.

So State of Wonder is about a pharmaceutical researcher who goes to the Amazon to find a colleague who didn't return from a visit to their lead field researcher there, who hasn't reported on her findings in 10 years. Dr. Marina Singh goes to Manaus, Brazil and then the heart of the Amazon jungle and encounters a chivalrous chauffeur, a pair of Australian bohemians, a deaf native child, a stoic and icy research doctor, a fascinating tribe, and several other colleagues of interest. Oh, and a modern medical miracle or two. The cast of characters is as intricately woven as the plot and the vines of the jungle. This novel so greatly resembled a dense ecosystem that it reminded me that's what I thought about Bel Canto : this book is not only about an opera singer, but it's like an opera in its richness and high and low notes. Both books just resonate their subject matter. They use just the right amount of words and just the right words; they are both spare and poetic. It's masterful. My only complaint is that the ending is too sudden, too unexpected, too unsettling. But maybe that's just because I read it so quickly.

Patchett's books also make me think about some controversial issues in them. This one questions some of the practices of pharmaceutical research and funding. There is an ethical dilemma in which I would expect to land one on side and find myself leaning toward the other. Some authors of novels like this sort of slam you over the head with the issue (Jodi Picoult?) but I think Patchett is a little more subtle and lets you come to your own ideas. I've also read comparisons of this book to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (which, come to think of it, just may be a book I have nothing nice to say about) but I think it's a lot more like Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible. Both are about indigenous peoples and trips into a scary and unknown environment. But Patchett and Kingsolver bring hope and understanding into some extreme situations.

Now, I should say I'm going to read those YA novels. But first I have to grade some papers, and then I think I'll want something a little more...adult. Maybe I'll reread Poisonwood Bible. A friend is debating getting rid of his books because he says he doesn't reread them, and I feel like keeping my favorites may need justifying.

The Darcys: The Ruling Passion

Fan Fiction by Linda Berdoll

Bodice ripper: yes. More Pride and Prejudice: YES PLEASE!

This novel is third in a series that continues the story of Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy, one of my favorite literary couples of all time.  The series also includes Darcy and Elizabeth: Days and Nights at Pemberley and Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues. Jane Austen would turn over in her grave at these books, though. It's often been commented that Austen's great romances end at the wedding day because she never married, so she couldn't write about the marriage itself. I think that's junk--she wrote about plenty of marriages, some merely convenient, some loving, some so irritating you love to hate them. But she certainly didn't write about passion or hot hot lovin'; Austen was too decorous for that. Linda Berdoll has no such qualms. These books are as steamy as a sauna. They're definitely a guilty pleasure for me, much like Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

One funny anecdote about these books is that they were first given to me by my mother-in-law. I try not to remind my husband of that while I'm reading the books, including some little bits aloud to him. I don't think she knew they were so bawdy when she gave the first two to me, just that they were about Pride and Prejudice which she knows I love. Thank you, Pat.

My admiration for the books is obvious, for the love and the characters and letting me continue to live in Elizabeth's sassy head (I named my daughter partly for this Elizabeth and partly for my sister Elizabeth, that's how much I love her). The plot is also engaging and slightly mysterious. There's a twist you'll totally see coming if you've read the other books. My one complaint is that the timeline takes some convoluted turns--at one point I said aloud, "Wait, he's dead!" Berdoll keeps the plot hopping by jumping back and forth between not only London and Pemberley (the country estate) but between the end of the last novel and recent events in the new one. It's a little confusing, in my opinion. It's actually something she did in the previous books, but my friend Jiorgia and I agree she does so more in this recent installment. She also seems to focus on the politics of the day more in this book, but I guess that makes sense given that one of the characters is a secretary to a Lord.

One last disclaimer: there is also some heartbreak about children in this book, which you might expect due to the lack of medical knowledge at the time (bloodletting? really?). But I wasn't ready for it and it pretty well slew me. If you're tenderhearted about babies right now, read with caution. But also know that great passion and devotion is often built as much by shared sorrow as by love. I think many of us have experienced that.