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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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      Trade Paperback
      Jan 1973 William Heinemann (UK) ISBN13 9780435901318 ISBN10 0435901311
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      Mass Market Paperback
      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN13 9780452261198 ISBN10 0452261198
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN13 9780452253476 ISBN10 0452253470
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN13 9780452251199 ISBN10 0452251192
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN13 9780452257726 ISBN10 0452257727
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      Apr 1976 Plume ISBN13 9780452254824 ISBN10 0452254825
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      Paperback
      Jan 1980 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN13 9780586051030 ISBN10 0586051031
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      Oct 1989 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN13 9780586089248 ISBN10 0586089241
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      Apr 1992 Penguin (UK) ISBN13 9780140813555 ISBN10 0140813551
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      Jan 2000 HarperPerennial ISBN13 9780060953461 ISBN10 0060953462
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      Feb 2000 Pearson ESL ISBN13 9780582417892 ISBN10 0582417899
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      Jan 2008 HarperPerennial ISBN13 9780061673740 ISBN10 0061673749
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      Paperback
      Jan 2013 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN13 9780007498802 ISBN10 0007498802
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      Sep 2025 HarperCollins ISBN13 9780063463097 ISBN10 0063463091
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      Hardcover

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      Hardcover
      Jan 1969 William Heinemann (UK) ISBN13 9780435121297 ISBN10 0435121294
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      Hardcover
      Apr 1972 Penguin (UK) ISBN13 9780718101633 ISBN10 0718101634
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      Hardcover
      Jan 1975 HarperCollins ISBN13 9780690007473 ISBN10 0690007477
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      Mar 2000 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN13 9780002257558 ISBN10 0002257556
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      eBook

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      Feb 2012 HarperCollins (UK) ISBN13 9780007386307 ISBN10 0007386303
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      May 2013 HarperCollins ISBN13 9780062294999 ISBN10 0062294997
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      May 2013 HarperPerennial ISBN10 B00C4TK31G
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      Audio

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      Sep 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN10 B0F55P66RZ
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      Large Print

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      Hardcover
      Dec 1986 ISIS Large Print Books ISBN13 9781850891291 ISBN10 185089129X
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