Diary of Good Neighbor

I remember reading this twenty years ago -- my discerning reader nephew had just finished it, set it on the table, and said, simply, "that was superb." Although the subject matter did not sound interesting to me, I picked it up, began reading, and was soon engrossed. I sat up all night until I finished it, eventually bawling my eyes out (this at the hands of Doris Lessing, hardly a sentimentalist) not from sadness, but for the richness of life, and the dignity and humanity of the people in it. So much wisdom packed into such a simple story by one of our best living writers.

Here's noted journalist/poet, May Sarton's description of the book: "The novel is the story of the gradual humanization of Janna through Maudie Fowler, the old witch, whom she gradually takes on as her responsibility, grows to love, and helps to die. This is not a perfect work of art but it is nevertheless revelatory and will haunt me much as Maudie Fowler haunted Janna." Jane Somers is a pseudonym for Doris Lessing according to the Reading Group Guides online.