Golden Notebook

Lessing, Doris

ISBN 10: 0586037950 ISBN 13: 9780586037959

Publisher: Grafton, 1973

Synopsis

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 writers 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 Lessings masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Golden Notebook is wry and perceptive, bold and indispensable.

About this title

Review

British stage, film and television actress Juliet Stevenson ... gives a masterful performance, especially considering the wide range of characters in this book... --Joanna Theiss

First published in 1962, Doris Lessing's brilliant work defined a generation of women disillusioned by a world that relegated them to second-class citizenship. Lessing's book became a 'feminist bible' for women of the '60s, taking on the ideas of female sexuality, professional responsibility, friendship, political disenchantment and personal betrayal. Juliet Stevenson gives a no-nonsense yet deeply sensitive portrayal of writer Anna Wulf, who is trying to keep herself from falling apart by keeping four notebooks: black for her writing experiences, red for her politics, yellow for her relationships and emotions and blue for her daily accounts. As Anna explores her life, Stevenson's sharp, intelligent narration clarifies each thoughtful comment, each personal failure and each triumph. --AudioFile

From the Back Cover

Anna Wulf is a young novelist with writer’s block. Divorced, with a young child, and disillusioned by unsatisfactory relationships, she feels her life is falling apart. In fear of madness, she records her experiences in four coloured notebooks. The black notebook addresses her problems as a writer; the red her political life; the yellow her relationships and emotions; and the blue becomes a diary of everyday events. But it is the fifth notebook – the Golden Notebook – which is the key to her recovery and renaissance.

Bold and illuminating, fusing sex, politics, madness and motherhood, The Golden Notebook is at once a wry and perceptive portrait of the intellectual and moral climate of the 1950s – a society on the brink of feminism – and a powerful and revealing account of a woman searching for her own personal and political identity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grafton
• Publication date: 1973
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0586037950
• ISBN 13: 9780586037959
• Binding: Unknown Binding
• Number of pages: 640