Book Synopsis

"A totally modern work. Martha Quest is, above all, ironically percieved by the author in whose hands irony is an instrument of compassion." -- New Republic

An unconventional woman trapped in a conventional marriage, Martha Quest struggles to maintain her dignity and her sanity through the misunderstandings, frustrations, infidelities, and degrading violence of a failing marriage. Finally, she must make the heartbreaking choice of whether to sacrifice her child as she turns her back on marriage and security.

A Proper Marriage is the second novel in Doris Lessing's classic Children of Violence series of novels, each a masterpiece on its own right, and, taken together, an incisive and all-encompassing vision of our world in the twentieth century.

From the Back Cover

An unconventional woman trapped in a conventional marriage, Martha Quest struggles to maintain her dignity and her sanity through the misunderstandings, frustrations, infidelities, and degrading violence of a failing marriage. Finally, she must make the heartbreaking choice of whether to sacrifice her child as she turns her back on marriage and security.

A Proper Marriage is the second novel in Doris Lessing's classic Children of Violence series of novels, each a masterpiece on its own right, and, taken together, an incisive and all-encompassing vision of our world in the twentieth century.

Review Quotes

"Very impressive....Portrays modern woman in all her complexity." - Literary Horizons
"One cannot praise the writing too highly...She plays on language as on an instrument with the severe discipline of a professional master." - Best Seller
"A totally modern work. Martha Quest is, above all, ironically percieved by the author in whose hands irony is an instrument of compassion." - New Republic
"I read the Children of Violence novels and began to understand how a person could write about the problems of the world in a compelling and beautiful way. And it seems to me that as the most important thing I could ever do." - Barbara Kingsolver
"With deceptive simplicity she reveals more about the private depths of mind and soul that perhaps one ought to know." - Daily Telegraph