The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses substance abuse and death by suicide.

Jane Goodall (b.1934) is a famous primatologist who rose to prominence after observing chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, where she was the first person to observe non-human animals making and using tools. Jane is a main interlocutor in the dialogue-style format of the book. The Prologue and Conclusion are written from her first-person point of view, in direct address to the reader.

Throughout the book, Doug makes note of Jane’s outstanding characteristics. Jane and Doug discuss her strong will, which drives Jane to persevere and maintain hope in the face of grief or disadvantageous odds. When Jane was 26, she began to lose hope she’d get funding to observe chimps long enough to gain their trust, but her will won out. When Jane’s second husband, Derek, died, she felt “hopeless” for the first time (25), but her family, animals, and the forest in Gombe helped her recover hope. When Doug asks Jane if she experiences “eco-grief,” she admits she often does. However, she insists that maintaining hope does not involve denying the harm done to the planet, its species and people.