The Diaries of Jane Somers by Doris Lessing: I. The Diary of a Good Neighbour

Our Book Club theme for September is Nobel Prize Winners, and since we're doing an Alice Munro book later on this year, I chose Doris Lessing, who won the Nobel Prize in 2007, the most recent woman winner other than AM. I've never read her books, since I understood she was a very intellectual writer, but I took myself off to our library and found this one.

This title covers two books actually, originally written by Lessing under the pseudonym Jane Somers , and titled "The Diary of a Good Neighbour" and "If The Old Could". When she revealed thenauthor's real name, they were re-published In this form. As Lessing says in the Preface, writing under a pseudonym was an experiment, and she always intended to "come clean".First, she wanted to be reviewed solely on merit, not on her name. she also wanted to "cheer up" young writers by illustrating that their efforts to become published don't have anything to do with their talent.

Jane is an assistant editor of a fashion magazine. Both her mother and her husband have recently died; she has remained unaffected by their deaths, and feeling guilty as a result. ONe night she meets an ancient woman named Maudie Fowler in a pharmacy, and finds herself increasingly involved in her life. Maudie lives in a state of filth, and is herself unable to care for her own physical needs, and she has no money to purchase food. She has refused help from social agencies,but seems to accept Janna's help most of the time. Janna visits her often, nearly every day.

Quote from the second novel, which sums up everything: " As I went in at her door, I entered the world I once hardly knew existed, that of the poor, the old, the sick; and those people who minister to them,,social workers, Home Helps, Good Neighbours, Church Visitors; a world so different from mine, which is populated with those who keep themselves successfully balanced on life, people who do not expect to trip, fall over, and find themselves incapacitated in a bed sitting room somewhere, being kept going by visits, food brought in, moral support; a world which few of us, ever, want to think about until,we have to"

The author did an excellent job of depicting the life of an old woman living in poverty, the life of the Home Helps, her sister Georgie, with whom Janna has an uneasy relationship. The various characters, all of whom are women, are clearly drawn; the only man in this novel is Charlie, who becomes editor of "Lillith", the magazine  and he is an ineffectual person at best. 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It was extremely well-written and easy to read. I can't see how reviewers or publishers wouldn't think the writer was experienced in writing, because it is so well-structured.. Just when the reader starts wondering where the story of these two women can go, she introduces both Annie and Eliza, two other old women who need help, plus her niece Jill,comes to live with her. When Maudie goes into hospital, there is another world presented- the big doctor who brings his students into the ward to poke at Maudie, how the nurses really do all the work, and get little credit for doing so.