In 2001, Zachary traveled to Africa to write a novel, but instead he became besotted with a woman and a continent. In his book, Zachary (The Diversity Advantage
), a former foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
, chronicles his six-year affair with Chizo, a Nigerian woman he met in Accra, Ghana, whom he eventually married. Each of the seven sections is set in the various locations where their romance blossomed—including Northern California, Grand Basdaam in the Ivory Coast, Accra and New York. His love story is sincere, though his descriptions often verge on the saccharine: “Turning her head, her eyes meet mine and our lips come together”; “She moved according to the rhythms of her place. She felt comfortable in her skin. She was beautiful, daring, powerful and upsetting. She robbed me of my routine.” There are intriguing passages, however, as when Zachary depicts life in West Africa, relates the stresses of navigating immigration or calms his anxious Jewish parents. (Jan.)
