This intriguing chimera of a book starts out as a quest, twists into a scientific mystery, then becomes an intimate human drama about family and what it means to be the "other." The reader doesn't just go on a journey with the main character Marina to find her research partner Anders in the depths of the Brazilian rain forest, the reader becomes the seeker through Marina's character and experiences first hand what it is like to be a stranger in a completely strange land. I felt transported by this book, and am in awe of Patchett's ability to make the foreign familiar. Because of course, even though Marina has been dropped into a culture that is entirely unlike her own, she soon discovers that we are all the same when it comes to relationships and matters of the heart. Really unusual and fascinating read--I won't soon forget it.