Michael Arditti
Saved From the Frost
The Story of General Dann and Mara’s Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog
By Doris Lessing
Fourth Estate 282pp £15.99 order from our bookshop
While many novels end with a cataclysm, Doris Lessing’s latest takes the less usual step of opening with one. It is a sequel to Lessing’s 1999 novel, Mara and Dann, but, whereas the earlier book was concerned with the struggles of its young hero and heroine in a world which while derelict and strife-ridden still retained the vestiges of civilisation, the later one depicts a society that has almost completely broken down.
Once again the setting is Africa (or rather Ifrik) several millennia after a second Ice Age has reshaped the globe. Deserts have been flooded, cities submerged and seas dried out. Although contemporary commentators identify a potential threat to Europe in the mass emigration of sub-Saharan Africans fleeing north to escape
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'He has been arrested in the past and upon his release, he has cheerfully persisted in his activism. His courage is exemplary.’
@lucyjpop investigates Zargana, the renowned Burmese satirist recently arrested as part of a widespread military crackdown.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/zargana-2
A new biography of the archaeologist and explorer Charles Masson provides a 'tale of intrigue, espionage, blackmail, disguise, rebellion, treasure and the discovery of lost civilisations', says @BijanOmrani.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/our-man-in-kabul
'Intellect and sensuality commingle in most, whether they are about a recalcitrant schoolgirl or an ice princess.'
@MirandaFrance1 reviews 'Medusa's Ankles', a new selection of A S Byatt's short fiction.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/expect-the-unexpected