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Book Reviews of Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir

Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir
Love in the Driest Season A Family Memoir
Author: Neely Tucker
ISBN-13: 9781400081608
ISBN-10: 1400081602
Publication Date: 4/5/2005
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
 33

4.3 stars, based on 33 ratings
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

11 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
It took me awhile to get started reading this book, only because I didn't think it would interest me that much. Once I got reading, I couldn't put it down and finished it in two days. It's a very touching story about the difficulty in adopting in a foreign country.
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A harrowing tale of adoption from Africa. A great treatise on love.
verap avatar reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
"Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoir" in the Driest Season is told by a foreign correspondent Neely Tucker. Shortly after getting married, Tucker accepted a post in Zimbabwe, thinking it would be just another reporting job. Tucker, a white man from Mississippi, and his African-American wife Vita pack up their belongings, and make the track to the capital city Harare. They found the country beautiful, but ravaged by AIDS; the effects of the disease were seen everywhere. Millions of children were orphaned with one or both parents dead, orphanages were overflowing and the government was ignoring the problem.

Wanting to help, Neely and Vita began volunteering at a local orphanage, with the intention of taking some kids home with them for the weekends. The first day there, they came across a tiny infant named Chipo, and instantly fell in love with the little girl. Neely and Vita could not have kids of their own, and finding Chipo, they considered adoption to be a viable option.

Together, they nurse Chipo back to health, from a sickly baby with no responses, to a happy toddler. They also discover the prejudices that exist against foreigners adopting Zimbabwean children, and battle with the system to keep their daughter.

In addition to being a beautiful family memoir of love and perseverance, "Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoir" is a masterful account of the situation in Zimbabwe, as well as other African countries, at that time. Tucker talks about the effects of AIDS on the population, the senseless civil unrests going on in various regions, the bombing of the American embassy in Nairobi, the lack of order, the overly pompous leaders who care little about the people they govern, and so on.
latonya avatar reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on
Helpful Score: 1
Tucker's writing is lush, dynamic and moving. A professional writer, by trade, the author renders an intimate and compelling read.
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 11 more book reviews
Tucker provides an amazingly accurate depiction of life in Southern Africa. The descriptions of dealing with government brought back memories of my time in Peace Corps. a definite page turner.
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 391 more book reviews
Wow- a very touching story of what one couple will do to achieve their goal of becoming parents. Wonderfully emotional read
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 2 more book reviews
Fascinating book about the perils of adoption in Africa.
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 3 more book reviews
A must-read for all adoptive families, especially those who have adopted children from around the world!
Nellie avatar reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 12 more book reviews
Don't read this book in public unless you don't mind people seeing you cry. It's great.
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 14 more book reviews
Very well written. Nice balance of information about Zimbabwe and personal story of Neely as correspondent and family life in challenging circumstances. Best book I've read in quite a while!
reviewed Love in the Driest Season : A Family Memoir on + 35 more book reviews
Book is signed by the author.