The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey

Some found Dian Fossey ``charming, beguiling, captivating''; others considered her ``difficult, crusty, obsessed.'' Hayes ( The Last Place on Earth ) sought out friends and foes alike for this riveting portrait of a tempestuous life. At age 35, Fossey, an American primatologist, plunged into Africa with no experience of other cultures; she was ignorant of local languages and French, of politics and local peoples. Given the circumstances, as Hayes notes, Fossey's survival was a miracle of will. Her enemies were legion: poachers, cattle herders, park officials, research students. Her love affair with photographer Bob Campbell was probably the happiest time of her life, suggests Hayes. Obsessed with the gorillas and trusting nobody, Fossey seemed bent on self-destruction during her last years in Rwanda. She was 52 when she was murdered in 1985. Here is a tragic, charged tale of romance and adventure enthrallingly told. Photos. First serial to Esquire; Literary Guild alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Books selection. (July)