With the four short novels in this collection, Doris Lessing once again proves that she is unrivalled in her ability to capture the truth of the human condition. In The Grandmothers, two close friends fall in love with each other's teenage sons, and these passions last for years. In Victoria and the Staveneys, a poor black girl finds her child is becoming absorbed into the world of white privilege and growing estranged from her. The Reason for It describes the birth, flourishing and decline of a culture long ago, but with many modern echoes. In A Love Child, a soldier in World War II falls in love on shore leave, and is convinced that a love child resulted from the wartime romance. Book jacket.
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