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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Danger and some violence in the Amazon setting; deaths in the jungle environment
Language
Barely any
Mild language throughout
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content in the literary fiction register
Substance Use
Barely any
Moderate substance use in the research setting
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Strong psychological content: the ethical implications of the research, the relationship between Marina and her fearsome former mentor, and the transformative experience of the Amazon create intense and complex themes
What this book is about
Dr. Marina Singh travels to the Amazon jungle to investigate the reported death of a colleague and check on a mysterious long-term research project being conducted by her brilliant, intimidating former professor Dr. Annick Swenson. What she finds in the jungle exceeds anything she prepared for — medically, morally, and personally. Ann Patchett's novel is both a thriller and a sustained meditation on medical ethics, colonialism, motherhood, and the nature of progress.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Medical ethics of a highly controversial research project
Deaths in the jungle setting including of sympathetic characters
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