Alfred and Emily
Author(s): Doris Lessing
Alfred and Emily is an intimate and revealing book by Doris Lessing, the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature and author of The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook, that explores the lives of her parents, each irrevocably damaged by the Great War.
In this profoundly moving book, Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing explores the lives of her parents, each irrevocably damaged by the Great War. In the fictional first half of Alfred and Emily, she imagines the happier lives her parents might have made for themselves had there been no war. This is followed by a piercing examination of their relationship as it actually was in the shadow of the devastating global conflict.
"Here I still am," says Lessing, "trying to get out from under that monstrous legacy, trying to get free." Triumphantly, with Alfred and Emily, she has done just that.
Review(s):
“An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details.”
“Alfred and Emily explores the boundary where reality and imagination meet, through the use of a formally innovative structure. . . . Wonderfully evocative. . . . Glimpses into the creative process of one of the world’s most gifted and socially engaged writers make Alfred and Emily a valuable addition to the Lessing oeuvre.”
“An odd and powerful excursion into lost time. . . . a powerful reminder not only of Lessing’s past but also of how each of us can return to our own and come back with something precious.”
“Alfred and Emily reveals why Lessing deserved literature’s highest honor. There is a remarkable level of courage, honesty, and wisdom in Alfred and Emily. . . . Lessing, nearing 90, continues to surprise.”
“Lessing has pushed the boundaries of the memoir form . . . fluidly conversational prose . . . thought-provoking.”
“In its generosity of spirit, its shaped and contanied fury, Alfred & Emily is also an extraordinary, unconventional addition to Lessing’s autobiography . . . but there isn’t the slightest tone of valediction or summing up here. That’s why she remains so vital: even in old age, she sounds as fierce and passionate as a girl.”
“Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit, it’s a charming yet cutting story of rapid social change, the resiliency of women, class conflicts, the call to do good, and the confounding dynamics of marriage and parenthood. . . . This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic.”
“A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving.”
“She has never displayed her potent imagination to better effect, or her gift for probing realism . . . a profoundly moving memoir and portrait of a marriage.”
“A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. Alfred & Emily is a culmination of Lessing’s ongoing interest in formal experimentation and the relationship between reality and imagination. It’s also a testament to her ongoing literary vitality. . . . By allowing her readers this insight into the connection between autobiography and fiction, between form and content, she reaffirms fiction’s powers and possibilities.”
ISBN: 9780060834890