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Martha Quest (Children of Violence)
 
 

Martha Quest (Children of Violence) (Paperback)

by Doris May Lessing (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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  • This item: Martha Quest (Children of Violence) by Doris May Lessing

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Flamingo; New Ed edition (19 Aug 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0586089985
  • ISBN-13: 978-0586089989
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 87,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #16 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > L > Lessing, Doris

Product Description

Synopsis
The first book in the "Children of Violence" series, a quintet of novels tracing the life of Martha Quest from her childhood in colonial Africa through to old age in a post-nuclear Britain. The other novels are "A Proper Marriage", "A Ripple from the Storm", "Landlocked" and "The Four-Gated City".

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A novel of many layers, 3 Jan 2007
By J. Williamson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This first novel in the 'Children of Violence' series is a vivid, beautifully written, and at times uncomfortable account of a young girl, Martha Quest, growing up in a British colony in Africa just before World War II. Martha is a wonderful character; stubborn and resilient - and full of bitter adolescent resentment and self-consciousness. Although her ideas are radical for the time, Martha is also subject to her own uncertainty and insecurities, which allow her to be swept along with the tide. Without consciously meaning to, she conforms to the expectations of society and her contemporaries - as a result, she finds herself in a world she doesn't understand, and in the company of those she feels little but contempt for. Inevitably, she succumbs to the way of life that has for so long repulsed her. Simmering beneath the surface is the racism and hypocrisy prevalent in the colonies, and the gradual acceptance that elsewhere in the world, a war is brewing.

This is a superb novel and makes for compulsive reading. There is much truth that can be taken from the book, and I highly recommend it: especially for all those who know that sometimes it can be hard to find your place in the world.
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3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Reading, 24 Nov 2001
Martha Quest which is the first in a line of books by Lessing makes for interesting and light reading. Life in colonial Africa, with its vintage charm, particularly for the fledgling adolescent is quite an attractive theme. Lessing's use of language is particularly clever, esp. her use of metaphor and motifs, which does not hand the reader everything on a platter. a good book
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