Chapter 1: Parents and Children Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing (1919- )

Doris Lessing was born in Persia, now Iran, to English parents and grew up on a farm in southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. A leading feminist writer, Lessing is interested in politics, freedom, morality, madness, religion, and disarmament. Her major novels include the Children of Violence quintet: Martha Quest (1952), A Proper Marriage (1954), A Ripple from the Storm (1958), Landlocked (1965), and The Four-Gated City (1969). The Golden Notebook (1962) is a classic of feminist literature, and her novels, Briefing for a Descent into Hell (1971) and The Summer Before the Dark (1973), are also considered classics. Lessing is also known for Canopus in Argus: Archives, a series of novels, which began in 1979, using science fiction as a means of exploring archetypal images of women and men. Her most recent novels are The Diaries of Jane Somers (1984), The Good Terrorists (1986), The Fifth Child (1988), Love Again (1997), and Maria and Dan: An Adventure (1998); her stories are collected in The Stories of Doris Lessing and in The Real Thing: Stories and Sketches (1992). She recently published African Laughter: Four Visits to Zimbabwe (1992), autobiographical essays that chronicle her return to her homeland, as well as two volumes of her autobiography, Under My Skin: My Autobiography, 1919-1948, Vol. 1 and Walking in the Shade: My Autobiography, 1949-1962, Vol. 2 (1997). Author Links Doris Lessing This site features a detailed biography of Lessing along with links to sites that focus on some of her contemporaries.

"Through the Tunnel" Doris Lessing

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