A review by pogseu
The Cleft by Doris Lessing

4.0

how about an alternative creation myth: women came first, and used to procreate without the help of men. They would be fertilised by the sea or the moon. But they started giving birth to deformed babies, which they called Monsters and which they left to die on the Killing Rock. Unfortunately the Monsters (or Squirts) were rescued by Eagles. A shame really, because once they started mating with women, the moon and the sea weren't sufficient anymore, and women needed the men's seeds.

the story is told by a Roman historian (a man) who inserts little remarks here and there on maternal love, how men and women interact or how boys and girls are made aware of their sexual differences.

only four stars because the book is so repetitive.