First published by Michael Joseph in 1984, under a pseudonym, as 'The Diary of a Good Neighbour' and 'If the Old Could!', now published as 'The Diaries of Jane Somers', this is in many ways classic Lessing. As resonant with social and political themes as 'The Golden Notebook', Lessing returns to the realism of her early fiction with the wisdom and experience of maturity. The diaries introduce us to Jane, an intelligent and beautiful magazine editor concerned with success, clothes and comfort. But her real inadequacy is highlighted when first her husband, then her mother, die from cancer and Jane feels strangely removed. In an attempt to fill this void, she befriends ninety-something Maudie, whose poverty and squalor contrast so radically with the glamour and luxury of the magazine world. The two gradually come to depend on each other -- Maudie delighting Jane with tales of London in the 1920s and Jane trying to care for the rapidly deteriorating old woman. 'The Diary of Jane Somers' contrasts the helplessness of the elderly with that of the young as Jane is forced to care for her nineteen-year-old drop-out niece Kate who is struggling with an emotional breakdown. Jane realises that she understands young people as little as she so recently did the old.

多丽丝•莱辛（1919—2013），英国当代著名作家，2007年诺贝尔文学奖得主，被誉为继伍尔芙之后最伟大的女性作家。

1919年出生于伊朗。幼年时在南非农场度过，家境贫困，十四岁因眼疾辍学，十五岁离家做保姆，后从事过接线员、速记员等工作。

曾两次结婚又离异。1949年离开南非，留下丈夫和两个孩子，携幼子移居英国追寻心目中的自由生活，全部家当是皮包中的一部小说草稿。该书不久以《野草在歌唱》为题出版，莱辛从此一举成名。

1962年，代表作《金色笔记》问世，成为其摘得诺贝尔奖桂冠的充分理由。此后，笔耕不辍，一生出版了五十余部作品。

诺贝尔文学奖评委会曾如此评价：“多丽丝•莱辛既是文学史中的典范，也是当下文学创作的先锋。她改变了我们审视这个世界的方式。”