The Constant Gardener
by John Le Carré
Scribner, 487 pp. $28.00
Le Carré has turned away from his foggy world of spies, moles, and double agents to tell a harrowing tale of conspiracy on a grand scale.
Certainly, there are moments when each one of us wonders what we or anyone can do for those sick and starving babies (and, indeed, whole families) in equatorial Africa. The statistics of disease and famine are beyond shocking. As we turn the pages of this book, we are suddenly in the midst of this burning question; as the story unfolds, it is heart-warming to find there are many who do not feel helpless at these conditions so terrible that they would appear to dispel all answers.
Our hero, middle-aged Justin Quayle, is part of the British High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya. He has green fingers and thumbs, and gardening is his passion. It is not his only one however; he adores his beautiful wife, Tessa, many years younger than he. She is deeply committed to helping the poor and the sick of Kenya, especially the women, and is widely acclaimed in the villages where she is known and loved. Her dear friend, an African doctor, travels with her and shares her desperate concern for the poor, the ill, the dying.
Tessa and her associate, Arnold, have been researching a new drug, Dipraxa, for the treatment of tuberculosis. Two huge (and according to Tessa, evil) pharmaceutical giants are pushing this drug in Kenya, using it as a testing ground. The fact that its side effects can kill is merely an adjunct to their plan to make millions from the drug after it has been altered as much as is required to make it effective.
As we enter this roiling, teeming setting, we learn that Tessa has been murdered and that Arnold is missing. The tabloids have a field day, suggesting the pair were involved in a torrid affair when they were killed – or did Arnold cut Tessa's throat in a lovers' quarrel?
The British bureaucracy seems content to accept the surface facts, be sad a bit, and then press on with business as usual. But not Justin. His love for Tessa and his trust in her compel him to pick up her torch and believe that good can overcome evil. It's a dangerous journey he embarks upon, but when one is on the side of the angels, one travels with the speed of light.
He finds that Tessa and Arnold had been working for months documenting data on patients who had died from medications improperly prescribed, outdated or simply experimentally tested by the pharmaceutical companies. There is evidence that huge bribes have silenced any possible outcry from officials. The information stored in Tessa's computer has been mysteriously wiped out by a weird virus. Justin has her notes, though, and his journey begins.
The shining facet of the book is Justin. As he becomes more familiar, he grows in stature as well as character and integrity. The plot and setting of "The Constant Gardener" may fade, but I believe that Justin, his goodness and his strength will stay with us a long, long time. Thank you, Mr. LeCarré.
"The Constant Gardner" is available at Dockside Bookshop in Havensight Mall. To check out other Dockside favorites, click here.