Landlocked

This entry in the Children of Violence series has Martha fed up with her life in Africa and desiring an escape to England. As she is "Landlocked," she cannot get true independence and is left with friends she is growing distant from and a Communist ideology she is becoming disenchanted with. She spends the majority of the book feeling mentally and spiritually stifled and taking up with various lovers. It is an enjoyable book, just as solid as A Proper Marriage but nothing akin to the masterpiece The Four Gated City. However it sets Martha up well for that final novel, and makes her later transformation believable. It also gives the reader a very stark view of life in WWII South Africa, an area too remote for warfare but always full of the sadness of the time. The Children of Violence novels are a great achievement and should be enjoyed in their entirety, so although this is one of Lessing's less well-known works it would benefit any fan to read it.