Chapter Twelve Summary and Analysis

Lessing describes her life with the young son John. John is a very active baby, and exhausts her. She spends her mornings with the other young women and their babies. John has become her entire life with his demands. Frank's friends are all his age, about ten years older than Lessing. She is active and popular in this life, but deep inside she does not feel she belongs. When John is nine months old, Lessing and Frank decide to have another baby, and she is soon pregnant. John still needs constant supervision, as he will walk away from the house otherwise. As she pushes him in a pram about the town, she writes poems in her head, and one is included in this chapter. Frank does not like her poems, but encourages her to be a writer. Lessing and...