Perkins is an associate professor of English at Prince George's Community College in Maryland. In the following essay she focuses on how the structure of Doris Lessing's "Debbie and Julie" illuminates the story's themes.

In the short sketch "Storms," one of the collected pieces published in Doris Lessing's The Real Thing, a passenger in a London cab expresses her feelings for the city: "It was like a great theater, I said; you could watch what went on all day, and sometimes I did. You could sit for hours in a cafe or on a bench and just watch. Always something remarkable, or amusing." The collection of stories in The Real Thing have been heralded for their realistic snapshots of London and Londoners. In one of the darker stories in the collection "Debbie and Julie," Lessing presents a harrowing portrait of a young Londoner, who finds herself quite...