Dimensions
136 x 209 x 17mm
A hardened foreign correspondent's resolve to never get involved is shattered the moment a tiny orphan girl grasps his finger - and changes his life forever.
When journalist Neely Tucker was posted to Zimbabwe after covering some of the world's deadliest conflicts, he was overwhelmed by the horror of AIDS, especially the endless stream of orphaned children. Unable to have children of their own, Neely and his wife Vita volunteered to do what they could at a Harare orphanage, where AIDS-stricken babies lived or, more frequently, died.
It was here that he first saw Chipo, a little girl whose name means "gift". Abandoned to die in a field the day she was born, the baby's heartbreaking screams alerted a passer-by and saved her life. When Chipo looked up worriedly and closed her tiny hand around Neely's little finger, it was one of those moments in life when everything changes. As Tucker and Vita nursed the ailing Chipo back to health, they knew they were meant to be a family.
But in a country where foreigners were soon to be declared enemies of the state and the idea of an outsider adopting a child was unthinkable, the dream of becoming a family would soon become a nightmare. And as President Mugabe's campaign against foreigners escalated, journalists were branded persona non grata.
Doors were slammed in Tucker's face, paperwork went missing, officials walked over him as he sat outside their offices and social workers sent him on countless dead-end searches. But one day he met someone who saw past the colour of his skin and helped him bring Chipo home at last.
'Love In The Driest Season' is an unforgettable story about love and the triumph of the human spirit - and how fatherhood, however unexpected, changed one man's life forever.
