The Memoirs of a Survivor

A city of the future governed by a barbaric code of law: this is the setting for Doris Lessing's visionary "attempt at autobiography". From the safety of her apartment, an unnamed woman observes the coming of anarchy: fires, boarded up buildings, bands of refugees, adolescent gangs scavenging in deserted streets. But her vigil is broken by the arrival of twelve year old Emily, delivered into her keeping by a stranger who vanishes without a word. Ling for clues to Emily's identity, the woman wanders through the building's corridors and abandoned rooms, stumbling upon scene after devastating scene from Emily's childhood. As the past fuses with the present, her young ward teaches her the only lesson worth learning in this terrifying new world - how to survive.