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      The Grass Is Singing

      by Doris Lessing
      Published
      Apr 1972
      Main Genre
      General Fiction General Fiction
      Rating
      Pages
      238
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      About This Book

      Set in South Africa under white rule, Doris Lessing's first novel is both a riveting chronicle of human disintegration and a beautifully understated social critique. Mary Turner is a self-confident, independent young woman who becomes the depressed, frustrated wife of an ineffectual, unsuccessful farmer. Little by little the ennui of years on the farm work their slow poison, and Mary's despair progresses until the fateful arrival of an enigmatic and virile black servant, Moses. Locked in anguish, Mary and Moses--master and slave--are trapped in a web of mounting attraction and repulsion. Their psychic tension explodes in an electrifying scene that ends this disturbing tale of racial strife in colonial South Africa.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      General Fiction

      Subgenres

      Historical

      Age Level

      Kids (12 & Under) Kids: Middle Grade

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      Paperback

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      Jan 1973 William Heinemann (UK) ISBN 0435901311
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN 0452251192
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN 0452261198
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN 0452253470
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN 0452254825
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN 0452257727
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      Jan 1980 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0586051031
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      Oct 1989 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0586089241
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      Apr 1992 Penguin (UK) ISBN 0140813551
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      Jan 2000 HarperPerennial ISBN 0060953462
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      Feb 2000 Pearson ESL ISBN 0582417899
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      Jan 2008 HarperPerennial ISBN 0061673749
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      Jan 2013 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0007498802
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      Sep 2025 HarperCollins ISBN 0063463091
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      Hardcover

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      Jan 1969 William Heinemann (UK) ISBN 0435121294
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      Apr 1972 Penguin (UK) ISBN 0718101634
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      Jan 1975 HarperCollins ISBN 0690007477
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      Mar 2000 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0002257556
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      eBook

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      Feb 2012 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN 0007386303
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      May 2013 HarperCollins ISBN 0062294997
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      May 2013 HarperPerennial ISBN B00C4TK31G
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      Audio

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      Sep 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0F55P66RZ
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      Large Print

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      Dec 1986 ISIS Large Print Books ISBN 185089129X
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