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Doris Lessing: The Golden Notebook (unabridged)

Read by Juliet Stevenson

Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook focuses on the deeply divided feminine psyche: political stance, sexuality, relations with women friends and maternal persona. Superbly read by Juliet Stevenson,...

Doris Lessing: The Golden Notebook (unabridged)

Read by Juliet Stevenson

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Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook focuses on the deeply divided feminine psyche: political stance, sexuality, relations with women friends and maternal persona. Superbly read by Juliet Stevenson,...

About

One of the most important books of the growing feminist movement of the 1950s, it was brought to a wider public by the Nobel Prize award to Doris Lessing in 2007. Authoress Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive ‘golden notebook’ which draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook: sources of her creative inspiration in a black book, communism in a red book, the breakdown of her marriage in a yellow book, and day-to-day emotions and dreams in a blue book. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life – emotional, political and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s. In this authentic, taboo-breaking novel, Lessing brings the plight of women’s lives, from obscurity behind closed doors, into broad daylight. The Golden Notebook resonates with the concerns and experiences of a great many women and is a true modern classic, thoroughly deserving of its reputation as a feminist bible. A notoriously long and complex work, it is given a new life by this – its first unabridged recording.

Contents and tracklist

Free Women 1 – Anna meets her friend Molly in the summer…
Track length6:05
Anna, in the face of this unspoken but clear determination…
Track length6:28
There was a note of humorous, even childish pleading in this.
Track length7:57
Now Anna could not reply…
Track length5:19
Richard came into the room.
Track length6:24
Meanwhile Molly, talented in so many directions…
Track length6:12
Molly promptly went to the door, opened it, listened.
Track length5:32
Molly ignored Anna and attacked.
Track length7:13
Richard was on the point of exploding out of his chair…
Track length5:48
Richard made a movement as if to get up and go…
Track length4:46
Molly sighed, histrionically…
Track length5:48
There was another sound, like a cough…
Track length5:36
Tommy allowed them both a tolerant smile…
Track length6:18
For the first time Tommy showed a touch of humour.
Track length6:00
Anna closed her eyes a moment, smiling painfully.
Track length7:41
Anna held herself quiet, with effort.
Track length7:38
But at this Molly got up, and said quickly…
Track length6:05
'But I think I'll mention three of the comrades…'
Track length6:02
'And there's your friend de Silva.'
Track length5:39
They kissed, briskly.
Track length4:12
The Notebooks – The Black Notebook
Track length7:49
(Opposite this was written:)
Track length5:30
Yet I am incapable of writing the only kind of novel…
Track length6:44
When I think back to that time…
Track length6:46
For us, then…
Track length8:11
About then I met Willi Rodde and got involved with politics.
Track length5:57
But I don't want to write Willi's history…
Track length6:47
The most striking of the three…
Track length6:39
In this he was different from Jimmy McGrath…
Track length5:13
Ted Brown was the most original.
Track length6:58
The Gainsborough Hotel was really a boarding-house…
Track length6:09
Willi ran a cheap fifth-hand car.
Track length6:50
The main block of the hotel stood directly by the main road…
Track length8:16
We were all very tired.
Track length8:24
We did not return for a month.
Track length6:12
June spent most of her time on the verandah…
Track length6:04
Now it was Mrs. Boothby…
Track length5:11
George Hounslow, a roads man, lived a hundred miles…
Track length5:33
In parenthesis I must say that this is exactly what happened…
Track length5:30
At about midnight, the glare of a lorry's headlights…
Track length6:45
I've thought about that often since.
Track length6:23
George looked at Willi, waiting for him to protest.
Track length7:23
I remember George's long puzzled look at Willi.
Track length5:26
At last we managed to get Jimmy on his feet.
Track length8:03
We walked up to the big room through the hot sunlight…
Track length6:16
On this morning Stanley had stacked the top of the piano…
Track length7:54
Paul turned his head with his characteristic indolent charm…
Track length6:07
'Anna?' appealed George, looking at me.
Track length6:09
George looked at me again…
Track length7:12
He shut his eyes.
Track length7:32
It must have been about six or eight months…
Track length6:11
And then there was the affair of George's son.
Track length5:51
All this time we'd been making jokes…
Track length7:02
Next day bad temper prickled through the hotel.
Track length5:33
It was nearly midnight when Paul remarked…
Track length6:15
I left Willi in the bedroom and stood on the verandah.
Track length5:55
Paul left me and I went into the bedroom.
Track length5:49
The Red Notebook – The second notebook, the red one…
Track length3:32
The next day.
Track length5:11
5th Feb., 1950
Track length5:09
3rd Jan., 1952
Track length5:50
I see that I wrote yesterday, I would leave the Party.
Track length8:49
I went up to canvass, three afternoons.
Track length7:12
Jean Barker. Wife oF Minor Party official.
Track length3:39
The Yellow Notebook – The yellow notebook looked like…
Track length5:36
Julia's last remark had struck a familiar note.
Track length6:13
The idea for this novel had come to Ella…
Track length7:02
Here was Dr. West's house…
Track length7:06
Now the talk began again…
Track length6:05
Meanwhile she was restless to get away from him…
Track length5:26
It was time to go home.
Track length7:16
Paul was late…
Track length7:48
This was so personal, that it was her turn to glance…
Track length5:32
Later – and not so much later, he would say…
Track length6:46
They did not speak again until they reached the main road…
Track length3:43
From the feeling of the house she knew it was still empty.
Track length5:53
Being with Paul Tanner that night…
Track length7:15
That night Paul was humorous and very tender.
Track length7:39
The next evening they met full of defences on either side.
Track length4:12
Five years.
Track length6:44
The motif of Paul's attitude to his profession.
Track length6:56
The end of the affair.
Track length7:10
As for me, Anna, it was a remarkable fact…
Track length8:23
They ate, and he looked over at her and said…
Track length4:05
One day she went with him to his home.
Track length7:55
Later that evening he said, laughing…
Track length5:47
Ella had a dream which was unpleasant and disturbing.
Track length7:24
The Blue Notebook – The blue notebook began with a sentence…
Track length5:42
9th October, 1946
Track length6:37
Jan. 19th, 1950
Track length6:50
Jan. 31st, 1950
Track length7:42
15th March, 1950
Track length6:00
9th June, 51
Track length6:02
28th June, 52
Track length6:22
December 3rd, 52
Track length7:55
9th April, 1954
Track length6:22
Free Women 2 – Two visits, some telephone calls…
Track length6:56
He sat down, arranged himself neatly…
Track length6:35
Tommy lowered his head, sat frowning.
Track length5:47
Tommy said: 'After I went to my father's office…'
Track length5:39
This shock reached Anna's diaphragm…
Track length7:35
She said at last: 'I know what you've come here for.'
Track length6:25
Some time later, perhaps as long as an hour…
Track length6:03
Now he came and sat down opposite her…
Track length5:31
Marion, when she came in, smiled…
Track length6:05
'Why don't you go to bed?'
Track length7:09
The Notebooks – The black notebook continued empty…
Track length6:31
'Oh, my dear, you are so marvellous…'
Track length5:12
'Do you remember the excitement you talked about?'
Track length5:36
Letter from Mrs. Edwina Wright…
Track length7:54
'Anna, I liked your book so much.'
Track length8:57
Now we are suddenly both very angry.
Track length4:40
The Red Notebook – August 28th 1954
Track length4:29
I dreamed marvellously.
Track length5:08
Here were pasted in some scribbled sheets…
Track length6:29
The talk became desultory…
Track length5:11
'I often wonder if I am getting the correct advice…'
Track length5:20
The Yellow Notebook continues – The Shadow of the Third
Track length5:26
Next morning she slept too long…
Track length6:02
His face, his full eyes, were momentarily immobilised…
Track length7:38
And now she made a decision.
Track length5:56
Near her a man was sitting, absorbed in magazines…
Track length8:44
Her son woke her two hours later…
Track length8:17
He had a bed-sitting room and a bath in an expensive hotel.
Track length5:30
She thought this one out slowly…
Track length6:59
Ella spent the following evening with him.
Track length8:23
The Blue Notebook continued – 15th September 1954
Track length6:35
It must be about six o'clock.
Track length8:54
Now it is nearly eight o'clock...
Track length6:49
And now I must hurry.
Track length6:59
I ought really to be thinking over the coming encounter…
Track length5:48
When I get off the bus…
Track length6:41
Meanwhile Comrade Butte sits waiting.
Track length4:10
There is a startled silence…
Track length4:51
I read magazines and periodicals published in English…
Track length5:11
Before I start on the 'welfare work'…
Track length8:05
About eighteen months ago…
Track length6:41
For a year I have been answering these letters…
Track length5:47
I say 'Jack, when I leave, will there be anyone…'
Track length4:42
And now I see his face has put on a stubborn closed look…
Track length4:22
It is raining again, a small tedious drizzle.
Track length7:17
And now the cooking for Michael.
Track length3:51
I realise it is getting late.
Track length7:22
Free Women Three – Tommy adjusts himself to being blind…
Track length7:07
There never was a moment at which Tommy broke down.
Track length7:14
It was expressed by the single fact…
Track length6:41
A few days later Molly telephoned…
Track length7:16
Richard's lips actually trembled…
Track length5:32
Refusing to help him, not only out of dislike for him…
Track length5:34
Richard with an effort took himself to his desk…
Track length7:08
She opened her eyes, giddy and afraid…
Track length6:42
Anna reached the cleanliness of her own flat…
Track length7:44
Marion said: 'I'm sorry if I gave you a fright…'
Track length5:48
She sat staring, serious, ironical.
Track length7:08
'Do you remember that black leader…'
Track length5:27
Marion left, creeping downstairs…
Track length5:44
With which she went to the bathroom, to get ready for bed.
Track length8:59
That was the dream she woke with in the morning…
Track length5:03
The Notebooks – The black notebook now fulfilled…
Track length5:48
12th November
Track length5:59
In every direction, all around us, were the insects, coupling.
Track length7:16
Suddenly Paul sprang over and trod deliberately…
Track length6:35
We prepared for a lazy interval.
Track length7:12
There was again an intense silence.
Track length6:41
Time passed. We smoked. We waited.
Track length7:28
Maryrose closed her eyes again.
Track length5:50
'Look,' said Jimmy.
Track length6:17
The right side of the black notebook, under the heading…
Track length5:28
Came to know the young American writer James Schaffer.
Track length8:23
Easter Sunday
Track length3:03
Blood on the Banana Leaves
Track length8:48
Here was pinned to the page a review…
Track length5:35
The Red Notebook continued – 13th November 1955
Track length8:05
The Yellow Notebook continued – The Shadow of the Third
Track length6:50
A few weeks later, Ella sees Julia, tells her…
Track length7:41
Next day she telephones Julia…
Track length8:22
That evening Ella goes to Julia's house…
Track length5:56
Ella finds this story inside herself…
Track length3:53
About this time Ella pays a visit to her father.
Track length8:21
Ella, alone in her room, looks into her private pool…
Track length6:47
For something like eighteen months, the blue notebook…
Track length6:51
I remember how she sat opposite me…
Track length6:47
'What do you want me to say then?'
Track length5:47
At this point, another thick black line across the page.
Track length7:05
Telling Mother Sugar of this dream…
Track length4:10
What is happening is something new in my life.
Track length7:12
Another heavy black line.
Track length6:06
Within a week of my having gone to bed with Nelson…
Track length6:42
Well, from the moment Nelson came in…
Track length6:01
It was quite late, as I've said, about midnight…
Track length6:44
But now, suddenly, the tiny blonde woman…
Track length7:44
He went off, shouting and screaming at me – at women.
Track length6:08
I suddenly had a telephone call from him…
Track length6:16
Later on in the evening he told me the following story.
Track length4:39
In the morning I gave him breakfast.
Track length6:50
Free Women 4 – Anna and Molly influence Tommy…
Track length6:32
Molly telephoned, in a state of near collapse, soon after.
Track length7:46
The stairs were narrow and dark.
Track length6:57
Anna's voice cracked.
Track length7:25
At this moment a sound from the foot of the stairs.
Track length7:01
Anna went home slowly.
Track length6:37
The Notebooks – The black notebook now abandoned…
Track length3:47
The red notebook, like the black notebook…
Track length7:17
Meanwhile our old friendship had been restored…
Track length7:10
The yellow notebook continued.
Track length6:57
*7 A Short Story
Track length6:29
*12 A Short Story
Track length5:57
*19 The Romantic Tough School of Writing
Track length5:52
The blue notebook continued, but without dates.
Track length7:31
I put myself back into the state of mind…
Track length6:21
The American, Mr. Green, was coming today…
Track length5:17
Saul Green came to see the room and to leave his things.
Track length5:06
(From this point on in the diary, or chronicle…)
Track length8:50
Spent today playing 'the game'.
Track length6:57
I felt my stomach clench…
Track length5:03
He has a way of being about at the time…
Track length6:28
I wrote the last sentence three days ago…
Track length5:16
I slept lightly, with terrible dreams.
Track length5:33
Then we went to drink coffee, and we talked about politics…
Track length6:12
I sat in the kitchen and thought over what I'd just said.
Track length7:56
When he came back, I knew I'd been waiting…
Track length6:11
Then the delight vanished as I came across an entry…
Track length4:00
I've just been up to have another look at the diary…
Track length6:23
Today he came in and I knew by instinct…
Track length6:04
He gave me a quick, startled look and walked out.
Track length6:01
He stopped in his striding walk around the room…
Track length7:15
(*17) We have had a week of being happy.
Track length5:33
He said: 'Come here' – moving away and gesturing…
Track length4:42
Last night, when I had finished writing…
Track length7:05
But now, writing it, and reading what I've written…
Track length6:32
We began discussing the state of the left in Europe…
Track length5:26
Then in front of my eyes I saw the letter…
Track length5:36
Saul had not moved.
Track length6:56
When he came down it was late…
Track length8:08
I said to myself in my sleep…
Track length5:28
And then I got up and switched on the lights…
Track length7:52
After breakfast I took my shopping basket…
Track length6:59
The Golden Notebook
Track length6:27
As his feet went down the stairs…
Track length7:21
Then the dream, or the sleep, became quite thin…
Track length7:39
This voice faded; but already the film had changed.
Track length5:14
I woke into the stuffy dark of the room…
Track length6:25
I put on some early Armstrong. I sat on the floor.
Track length6:50
I rang Molly's number, and I said…
Track length6:14
And suddenly he leaped up and off the bed…
Track length7:45
He was cold, so I held him in my arms, full of happiness.
Track length4:27
I stood and thought…
Track length5:04
As soon as the dream came on…
Track length6:35
A short story: or a short novel: comic and ironic…
Track length8:52
I cooked and we slept.
Track length8:46
Free Women 5 – Molly gets married and Anna has an affair
Track length5:39
Anna found that she was spending her time in a curious way.
Track length5:57
One afternoon she went to sleep and dreamed.
Track length6:00
Late that night the bell rang.
Track length6:13
He returned to the table and remarked…
Track length5:23
At last he said: 'Well, that's fixed. Another soul for sanity.'
Track length7:56
In the morning she felt him deadly cold in her arms…
Track length4:20
When Janet came home she found Anna…
Track length5:03

Awards and reviews

Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook focuses on the deeply divided feminine psyche: political stance, sexuality, relations with women friends and maternal persona. Superbly read by Juliet Stevenson, it needs to be revisited as women struggle today.
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