Author(s): Vanessa Woods

Nature

Vanessa Woods, Australian scientist and author, thinks she has found her true love: chimpanzees. But in a reckless moment, she accepts a marriage proposal from a man she barely knows - and agrees to join him on a research trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. All she knows is that they'll be studying bonobos, an extremely endangered species of ape with whom humans share 98.7% of our DNA. As she adjusts to newlywed life in a war-torn country, Vanessa finds herself enchanted by these remarkable animals. They live in a peaceful society in which females are in charge, war is nonexistent, and sex is as common and friendly as a handshake. She came to study their habits and habitat, but soon learns much more: they teach her about love and belonging, about finding a home, and about what makes us human. Fascinating, courageous and irresistibly funny, Bonobo Handshake is an astonishing story of revelation and transformation in a fragile corner of Africa.