This review forState of Wonder by Ann Patchett has a couple of spoilers
I read the novel by Ann Patchett, State of Wonder, a few years back. I didn’t know anything about the book when I read it, a friend loaned it to me, and since I enjoyed Bel Canto, Patchett’s most well-known work, I decided to give it a read, and I’m glad I did.
It is a fun read that takes place in South America’s steamy jungles. In a place where discoveries can still be made. It also touches on a topic at the forefront of my mind at the time, fertility. But I am getting ahead of myself; let’s start from the beginning.
State of Wonder: The Plot
The story centers around a woman named Marina, who is a biochemical researcher for a sizeable pharmaceutical company. She is a rather uninteresting woman who does rather uninteresting work with cholesterol. She is neither a wife nor a mother and has centered her life around her career. In the first pages, she is thrust into an adventure in South America when her lab research partner and work-husband goes missing in the jungle where he has been doing research. She is sent to find out what happened and collect any research that he has left behind.
Marina embarks on this journey and meets interesting characters along the way. Some could argue she finds herself through it all. It’s a storyboard template that was a pleasant summer read. The description of the jungle is so vivid it becomes its own character. Patchett’s story realistically describes the relentless heat, the supersized bugs, and the steamy breathlessness of the jungle. She is, obviously, a master of her craft.
As the novel progresses, Marina eventually finds her way to the remote location where her research partner went missing. She learns the details of what is being studied, and it is something that could change the world and the role of women in society.
The remote tribe has a secret where fertility can be extended. The female tribe members instinctively and ritualistic expose themselves to a natural component. It’s a thick bark at the base of a jungle tree, that allows them to continue fertility well into old age.
While the book mostly focuses on Marina’s story and the fun descriptions of the cast of characters she meets and her fish out of water scenario as a city girl in the jungle, this fertility aspect caught my attention more than the bland protagonist. The book concludes with Marina finding a new sense of self and provides a firm conclusion that satisfies the reader.
Theme
But for me, the book raised questions about fertility that had been percolating in my mind. Questions that a 41-year-old woman might be considering as the door to her fertile years start to close. Questions, like, if we can continue having babies into old age, should we?
I’m sure many women and older moms have focused on this question. The answer is different for everyone. But collectively, we are seeing the age of first-time moms going up, and it’s not as unusual as it once was to see older moms.
In the book, the component that can extend fertility is researched and sought after by scientists with dollars signs in their eyes, imagining bottling and selling this to a woman in the later stages of life. These desperate women thought they had missed their chance, a vulnerable group who would pay top dollar for this miracle drug.
Patchett’s novel brought up many questions; Would this fertility extender be a great discovery? Would women buy it? What would be the ripple effect on society of a generation of older mothers, not just in their forties but in their fifties and sixties having babies?
Reflections on My Own Fertility Journey
This wonderfully crafted novel gave me pause. It is harder being an older mother, and maybe that’s why nature doesn’t want us to have babies late in life. Nature knows that the mother instinctively does the child-rearing. Maybe that’s why men can impregnate well into their 70s because they don’t bear the weight literally and figuratively of the pregnancy and upbringing.
Likewise, these themes that State of Wonder brought up resonated with me because I had my second child at 42 just a month shy of 43. I conceived naturally, but the toll it took on my body was much more than I expected. Being a mother is challenging, and being an older mother adds another layer of exhaustion. Of course, any mother would tell you it’s worth it.
In the end, I found the book a great read and a chance to explore the idea of fertility and parenthood.
Have you read it? What did you think?
Keri Anne Johnson
Keri has been teaching English and ESL for the past twenty years. She loves learning about new places and perspectives. She is an ex-expat and a mother to a teenager and toddler. She is slowly readjusting to life in the Pacific Northwest after twenty years in Mexico.
