Four novellas by Doris Lessing winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature that once again show
her to be unequalled in her ability to capture the truth of the human condition. The title
story 'The Grandmothers' is an astonishing tour de force a shockingly intimate portrait of
an unconventional extended family and the lengths to which they will go to find happiness and
love. Written with a keen cinematic eye the story is a ruthless dissection of the veneer of
middle-class morality and convention. 'Victoria and the Staveneys' takes us through 20 years
of the life of a young underprivileged black girl in London. A chance meeting introduces her to
the Staveneys - a liberal white middle-class family - and seduced she falls pregnant by one
of the sons. As her daughter grows up Victoria feels her parental control diminishing as the
attractions of the Staveneys' world exert themselves. An honest and often uncomfortable look at
race relations in London over the past few decades Lessing reaffirms her brilliance at
demonstrating the effect of society on the individual. With these novellas and 'The Reason for
It' and 'A Love Child' Lessing proves once again that she is one of our most valuable and
insightful living authors.
