What a magnificent story. I loved what another reviewer referred to as the "meaty pile of ethical questions", the richly-painted setting, the transformation that Marina goes through during the book, and the ending - which made me both happy and miserable and yet had what felt to be the requisite balance. I wondered early in the book if I would ever entirely warm up to Marina, and I was glad to find that I did; on the one hand, I wish it had been earlier, but I'm not sure the overall story would have worked for me any other way. I found Dr. Swenson loathsome until well into the book, but she redeemed herself eventually. Patchett does a fantastic job describing the Amazon forest - I felt I was there the whole time. Really a great read.