Through a Window

Narrator Pearl Hewitt deftly continues the story renowned primatologist Jane Goodall began in her first memoir of her work with chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania. That book was titled IN THE SHADOW OF MAN. Once more, listeners will strongly relate to the chimpanzees, as does Goodall--she defies scientists by naming (not numbering) them and maintains that they have emotions and intelligence. Tracking them through the forest and witnessing their joys, sorrows, and trials are exhilarating and often heartbreaking. Hewitt warmly shares snippets of Goodall's personal life, but her voice takes on an edge when Goodall describes the horrific things that humans are doing to harm the natural world. Most atmospheric is Hewitt's delivery of Swahili passages and African workers' humor and melodious English. A note of hopefulness is apparent when Hewitt recounts the work of the Jane Goodall Institute. S.G.B. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine