The New Yorker, February 16, 1981 P. 42
Pat Haberman has lived alone with her daughter Harriet in South Africa since her divorce, when Harriet was five. Harriet earned her degree at twenty and works in a literacy program for blacks. Pat is secretary to the dean of the medical school. One day Harriet receives a letter from a political prisoner at Pretoria Central Prison. His name is Roland Carter and he has read an article Harriet published called "Literacy and the Media." She shows the letter to Pat, who encourages Harriet to respond. The correspondence continues for many months. Pat becomes vicariously involved; she tells her friends about the correspondence, wonders if perhaps Harriet has mentioned her in her letters. Word comes that Roland has escaped from prison, and Pat is thrilled for him. But her friends warn her not to talk about her connection with the prisoner. For the short time that he is at large, she locks the doors and windows and becomes fearful. When Roland in fact comes to the house, Pat is overcome with remorse, and blames herself for the dangerous position her daughter is in.
