Book excerpt: Doris Lessing, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007, is one of the leading writers of our time. Her corpus encompasses a wide range of themes and concerns such as female identity, race-relations and dystopic visions of the future. This book makes a critical study of the different aspects of individual conscience as portrayed in the novels of Doris Lessing. It provides the broader contexts which nurtured Lessing's talent and aspirations, furnishes all the prominent biographical information, and finally offers critical interpretations of the individual works. Her novels studied here include The Grass is Singing, The Children of Violence, The Golden Notebook, The Summer before the Dark, and The Briefing for a Descent into Hell. Contents: Individual Conscience in The Grass is Singing Martha in Quest of Roots: A Study of Identity Crisis in The Children of Violence The Golden Notebook: From Alienation to Integration The Summer before the Dark: Reconstruction of the Self Briefing for a Descent into Hell: A Schizoid on a Celestial Mission Conclusion.