Doris Lessing was a Nobel Prize winner who was born in Iran in 1919 and died in England in 2013. The Golden Notebook is known as the essential book of hers. It is not difficult to understand why if you read it. Do not be intimidated by how long it is; it will finish sooner then you think.
Most of us think of the Golden Notebook as a feminist book. Although this is not entirely a myth, it is not just that. We can say that it is only a part of the big picture. It deals with the minds and expressions of women in detail and intensely. Of course, it pleasantly tells how emotions and sex has changed in the course of history. And of course, the effect of the communist party and belonging to something.
Apart from that, there are five separate books in the story. Our main character Anna writes on a different topic in each notebook. The golden notebook unravels everything. Especially in the last 50 pages, you will be glad that you have not left this book. Enjoy!
The Golden Notebook
The landmark novel of the Sixties – a powerful account of a woman searching for her personal, political and professional identity while facing rejection and betrayal.
In 1950s London, novelist Anna Wulf struggles with writer’s block. Divorced with a young child, and fearful of going mad, Anna records her experiences in four coloured notebooks: black for her writing life, red for political views, yellow for emotions, blue for everyday events. But it is a fifth notebook – the golden notebook – that finally pulls these wayward strands of her life together.
Widely regarded as Doris Lessing’s masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, ‘The Golden Notebook’ is wry and perceptive, bold and indispensable.
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH OMG was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia, where she remained until moving in 1949 to London, England.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
