THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK

ALFRED AND EMILY

In the first part of this book Lessing explores the lives of her parents, Alfred and Emily, in a fictional world spared the misery of World War I. It ends with a short biographical piece on how these two people actually met and lived, their lives defined and ruined by this same event..

BEN, IN THE WORLD

Ben Lovatt can never fit in, he is too awkward. As he comes of age he finds himself bewildered and alone in the wider world, but how does that world receive him?

THE FIFTH CHILD

Harriet and David Lovatt want only a faithful and loving family life. Children fill their lives and re-united relatives surround their table at Christmas and Easter. Then comes the fifth pregnancy and life turns sour as the baby develops violently, his alien presence wrecking their lives.

THE GOOD TERRORIST

Alison sees herself as a committed revolutionary. When she isn't busy making curtains for her 'squat' she likes to be on the battlefront, picketing, being bound over and, best of all, spray-painting slogans. But she fails to see the dangers under her own roof: the dabbling with explosive, ill-formed objectives and the disregard of consequences.

THE GRANDMOTHERS

4 delightful novellas varying in styles and subjects. From a British soldier on the African fringes of the 2nd World War, to a young, underprivileged black girl in London living in the world of a liberal white middle-class family.

THE GRASS IS SINGING

Set in Rhodesia, this is the story of Dick, a failed white farmer and his wife, Mary, dependent and disappointed. Both are trapped by poverty, and in the heat of the brick and tin house, hemmed in by the bush, Mary finds herself seeking solace in the arms of the houseboy.

ON CATS

A collection of charming and celebrated stories from Doris Lessing, who's love affair with cats began at a young age, and is a brilliant evocation of the feline world.

THE SWEETEST DREAM

Set initially in the 1960's, two remarkable women, Frances and her ex-mother-in-law Julia, rule over a large house in London. Here the young people demand their freedom, whilst their less idealistic elders recognise the influence of war and Comrade Johnny

UNDER MY SKIN

This, the first volume of her autobiography, tells of the author's childhood and early years in Africa and ends with her arrival in London in 1949.

WALKING IN THE SHADE

Sequel to: 'Under my skin' (5564).The author arrived in London in 1949 with a small child, £150 and a manuscript for a novel. In this volume she describes her writing, her involvement with communism and CND, her loves and her life until 1962.