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A review by jess_mango
The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing
3.0
3.5 stars.
This is the first book that I've read by Doris Lessing so I wasn't sure what to expect.
This book is set in the 1940's in rural Souther Rhodesia, a time when the nation was under white colonial rule. The book starts with a newspaper clipping that Mary Turner was found murdered on the veranda of the small decrepit farmhouse where she lived with her husband Dick. A native man has confessed to the crime. The book then flashes back to when Mary was a young woman and follows her story through to her death...so we she how she got there.
Mary is a 30 year old professional working an office job in town when she meets and is eventually proposed to by Dick, a bit of a sad-sack failure of a farmer. Their "courtship" is hardly romantic and they both just seemingly come together because they feel like the next step in their life should be to get married. Mary is underwhelmed by her new life. She feels no affection for her husband and is distressed by her new circumstances. The book follows her unravelling.
Also prominent in this book is the white farmers' mistreatment of their native employees. Mary takes out her negative feelings on her husband and on the series of native houseboys. Mary quickly goes through house servant after house servant, causing them to resign after a short period due to her handling of them.
This book makes a statement about colonialism and racism. We feel the "us vs. them" dynamic particularly with Mary and her interactions with their native employees. Neither Dick nor Mary Turner are very likable and while you feel sympathy for their circumstances, I wasn't really driven to feel hope that they would get better. The author does an excellent job portraying Mary's loneliness and isolation, but it was difficult for me to connect with her as a character.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2020 Challenge Task #10: a book that takes place in a rural setting.
This is the first book that I've read by Doris Lessing so I wasn't sure what to expect.
This book is set in the 1940's in rural Souther Rhodesia, a time when the nation was under white colonial rule. The book starts with a newspaper clipping that Mary Turner was found murdered on the veranda of the small decrepit farmhouse where she lived with her husband Dick. A native man has confessed to the crime. The book then flashes back to when Mary was a young woman and follows her story through to her death...so we she how she got there.
Mary is a 30 year old professional working an office job in town when she meets and is eventually proposed to by Dick, a bit of a sad-sack failure of a farmer. Their "courtship" is hardly romantic and they both just seemingly come together because they feel like the next step in their life should be to get married. Mary is underwhelmed by her new life. She feels no affection for her husband and is distressed by her new circumstances. The book follows her unravelling.
Also prominent in this book is the white farmers' mistreatment of their native employees. Mary takes out her negative feelings on her husband and on the series of native houseboys. Mary quickly goes through house servant after house servant, causing them to resign after a short period due to her handling of them.
This book makes a statement about colonialism and racism. We feel the "us vs. them" dynamic particularly with Mary and her interactions with their native employees. Neither Dick nor Mary Turner are very likable and while you feel sympathy for their circumstances, I wasn't really driven to feel hope that they would get better. The author does an excellent job portraying Mary's loneliness and isolation, but it was difficult for me to connect with her as a character.
This book counts towards the Book Riot Read Harder 2020 Challenge Task #10: a book that takes place in a rural setting.