State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Just finished State of Wonder by Ann Patchett for my book group.  Its been on my to read list since its publication, and has been consistently popular on the Hold Shelf at the library. The story is of a scientist who works for a pharmeceutical company and travels to the Amazon to locate a past mentor who is working on a fertility drug, and her research partner who is presumed dead.   No book that takes place in the Amazon is without some adventure, and this reminds me a little of the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson (junior fiction).  It took me awhile to get into the story–I was enjoying it but not “hooked” until the last third of the book.  Then I couldn’t put it down.  This will make a good book discussion:  the ehtics of the fertility drug, the relationships amongst the scientists, the morality of the choices they each make…it is an adventure story worth reading.