Overview

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.

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9780060834890

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Reviews

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. --USA Today A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving --Minneapolis Star Tribune 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. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review A truly intriguing piece of work...the book is also an interesting glimpse of an empire and an era. --Christian Science Monitor Lessing's taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever...as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. ALFRED & EMILY is...a testament to [Lessing's] ongoing literary vitality. --Washington Post Book World 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. --Wall Street Journal An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 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. --USA Today A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving --Minneapolis Star Tribune Lessing s taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews A truly intriguing piece of work...the book is also an interesting glimpse of an empire and an era. --Christian Science Monitor 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. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review 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. --Wall Street Journal A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. ALFRED & EMILY is...a testament to [Lessing s] ongoing literary vitality. --Washington Post Book World Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit...This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic. --Booklist (starred review) Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit...This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic. --Booklist (starred review)

A truly intriguing piece of work...the book is also an interesting glimpse of an empire and an era. --Christian Science Monitor An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 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. --Wall Street Journal Lessing's taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever...as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit...This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic. --Booklist (starred review) 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. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review 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. --USA Today A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving --Minneapolis Star Tribune A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. ALFRED & EMILY is...a testament to [Lessing's] ongoing literary vitality. --Washington Post Book World

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. --USA Today A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. ALFRED & EMILY is...a testament to [Lessing's] ongoing literary vitality. --Washington Post Book World 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. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review 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. --Wall Street Journal An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving --Minneapolis Star Tribune A truly intriguing piece of work...the book is also an interesting glimpse of an empire and an era. --Christian Science Monitor Lessing's taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever...as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews 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. --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review A stirring exploration . . . gently yet deeply moving --Minneapolis Star Tribune A clever, moving coupling of fiction and nonfiction. ALFRED & EMILY is...a testament to [Lessing s] ongoing literary vitality. --Washington Post Book World Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit...This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic. --Booklist (starred review) An intriguing work . . . [that] shimmers with precisely remembered details. --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times 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. --USA Today 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. --Wall Street Journal Lessing s taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews A truly intriguing piece of work...the book is also an interesting glimpse of an empire and an era. --Christian Science Monitor Laced with the subtlest of observations and the wryest of wit...This unusual marriage of fiction and memoir (and family photographs) results in a book at once spellbinding, rueful, and tragic. --Booklist (starred review)

Lessing's taste for discomfiting truths is as evident as ever...as bracing and engaging as anything she has written. --Kirkus Reviews

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. -- USA Today

Author Information

Winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature, Doris Lessing was one of the most celebrated and distinguished writers of our time, the recipient of a host of international awards. She wrote more than thirty books--among them the novels Martha Quest, The Golden Notebook, and The Fifth Child. She died in 2013.

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