Shocking, intimate, oftenuncomfortably honest, these stories reaffirm Doris Lessing’s unequalled abilityto capture the truth of the human conditionIn the title novel, two friendsfall in love with each other's teenage sons, and these passions last for years,until the women end them, vowing a respectable old age. In Victoriaand the Staveneys, a young woman gives birth to a child of mixedrace and struggles with feelings of estrangement as her daughter gets drawninto a world of white privilege. The Reason for It tracesthe birth, faltering, and decline of an ancient culture, with enlighteningmodern resonances. A Love Child features aWorld War II soldier who believes he has fathered a love child during afleeting wartime romance and cannot be convinced otherwise.