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in the Driest Season
Love in the Driest Season by
Neely Tucker is the riveting account of how
two Mississippians, newspaper reporter
Tucker, who is white, and his
African-American wife, Vita, adopted a baby.
Shortly after their marriage, he was posted
to Harare, Zimbabwe, where thousands of
children have been orphaned by AIDS and
extended families are overburdened with their
care. One day, a newborn was rescued from
abandonment in the bush and brought into the
orphanage where the Tuckers were
volunteering. Tiny and close to death, Chipo
latched onto Neely's finger, and he fell in
love with her. The couple was told that it
was practically impossible for foreigners to
adopt a Zimbabwean baby, but they decided to
try. Neely traveled around Africa, reporting
on uprisings, massacres, and genocides.
Intermittently, he returned to Harare to deal
with the rigid, arrogant social-welfare
bureaucracy and the horrible sadness of the
children dying in the understaffed orphanage.
Through patience, political savvy, and the
help of sympathetic social workers, he was
able to get the necessary papers to adopt the
child. The story offers insights into
interracial marriage, African politics, and
daily life in a Third World country.
does Tuckerís childhood amid the
devastating poverty and racism of rural
Mississippi inform or influence his
approach to Zimbabwe as an adult?
toll does living in the conditions
presented by Zimbabwe exact from him and
his colleagues, and is it worth it? How
does his idea evolve after he falls in
love with Chipo?
is accused of American arrogance and
How much energy does he put into
disproving the accusations? With whom
does he succeed? Are there any points at
which he inadvertently personifies the
hated American stereotype?
story graphically describes the horrors
of the sub-Saharan AIDS epidemic, zeroing
in on Zimbabwe, but he touches only
briefly on the social mores that have
prevented most of the dying from ever
being tested for HIV, as well as the
Western ethical conflicts that have
prevented a more aggressive anti-AIDS
program from being introduced from
abroad. Why do you think he keeps his
opinions on these matters to a minimum?
Would more political editorializing
detract from Chipo's story?
do the deaths of Ferai and Robert hit
Tucker and Vita so hard? Are they naÔve
to be shocked by these fatalities?
Chipo's HIV test comes back negative,
Tucker and Vita are elated. How would Tucker's
memoir have been different if Chipo had
been HIV-positive? Would their adoption
process have proceeded any differently?
months before the parliamentary elections
that will likely wreck havoc on all
foreign journalists remaining in the
country, and at the lowest point in
Tucker and Vita's seemingly endless
wrangling with the welfare system, Tucker
makes an uncharacteristic, almost naÔve
statement: "We wanted her more than
the department did and, eventually,
desire trumps bureaucracy." How do
you explain this burst of optimism?
is forced to make a chilling decision
between possibly helping thousands of
unknown children and concretely rescuing
one specific child. Discuss the ethical
implications of Tucker's decision.
the state-owned Sunday Mail runs an
article stating that the Zimbabwean
government has run out of resources with
which to handle orphaned children, Tucker
is floored. Can you find any instances in
the United States in the last fifty
years, in which the federal government
encouraged the privatization of matters
some people consider to be the
Tucker's sudden conversion to caring. Is
the switch profound and permanent, or
does his previous attitude linger? How
does his transformation affect his
ability to process stress? How does it
affect his marriage?
describes how, despite Mugabe's dramatic
and carefully orchestrated campaigns to
"whip up anti-American rancor,"
most Zimbabweans simply didn't seem to
care. How do you explain this public
Tuckerís attitude about family,
"something that goes beyond
bloodlines and shared last names,"
vital to successful adoption?
Adapted from http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm?book_number=1389
and School Library