Martha Quest (Children of Violence) - Softcover

Lessing, Doris

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452253535 ISBN 13: 9780452253537

Publisher: Plume, 1970

Synopsis

The heroine of this powerful, searching novel is a passionate and intelligent young woman whose ideals are totally at odds with the life she observes around her. The daughter of provincial parents, Martha Quest has been raised in a small-minded town in Central Africa - a community where hypocrisy, intolerance, and mindless traditionalism prevail. The book, which traces Martha from adolescence through an ill-conceived marriage, depicts her abrasive relationships with her elders, her contemporaries, and society as a whole. Martha Quest is a true child of this century. Her personal conflicts mirror the convulsions and aspirations of our her successful rebellion, her liberation and its tragic failures, and finally her despair transmuted into a relentless determination to understand life.

About this title

About the Author

Doris Lessing was one of the most important writers of the second half of the 20th-century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007. Her novels include "The Grass is Singing", "The Golden Notebook" and "The Good Terrorist". In 2001, Lessing was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime's achievement in British literature. In 2008, "The Times" ranked her fifth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". She died in 2013.

Review

`I read the "Children of Violence" novels and began to understand how a person could write about the problems of the world in a compelling and beautiful way. And it seemed to me that was the most important thing I could ever do.' Barbara Kingsolver`The "Children of Violence" series gives an astounding compression of a total, coherent vision, as if Doris Lessing knew all along where it would end.' The Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1970
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0452253535
• ISBN 13: 9780452253537
• Binding: Paperback