The Diaries of Jane Somers - Doris Lessing

Although this book is, in fact, by the distinguished and versatile novelist Doris Lessing (author of, among much else, "The Golden Notebook", "The Grass is Singing" and the Canopus in Argos series) it was originally published under a pseudonym - that of the eponymous Jane Somers. In fact, it was initially published as two novels: "The Diary of a Good Neighbour" (1983) and "If the Old Could..." (1984). In her interesting introduction to this edition, Doris Lessing explains why she decided to write under a pseudonym and what subsequently happened. (Lessing's publishers rejected "Jane Somers"' first novel out of hand, ...  Read the complete review