A Ripple from the Storm
{{Short description|1958 novel by Doris Lessing}}
{{Primary sources|date=December 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = A Ripple from the Storm
| author = Doris Lessing
| image =
| caption =
| cover_artist = William Belcher
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| genre = Novel
| publisher = Michael Joseph
| published = 1958
| media_type = Print
| pages =
| series = Children of Violence
| isbn = 0060976640
| dewey=
| congress=
| oclc=
| preceded_by = A Proper Marriage
| followed_by = Landlocked
}}
A Ripple from the Storm (1958) is the third novel in British Nobel Prize in Literature-winner Doris Lessing five volume, semi-autobiographical, series, Children of Violence. The first volume is Martha Quest (1952), and the others are, A Proper Marriage (1954), Landlocked (1965), and The Four-Gated City (1969). The Children of Violence series, follows the life of protagonist Martha Quest "from girlhood to middle age".{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Martha-Quest|title=Martha Quest | fictional character | Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}
A Ripple in the Storm describes the growth of a Communist group in a small town in Central Africa, "as a result of the general mood of optimism, enthusiasm and admiration for the Soviet Union current in the years 1942, 1943 and 1944." Martha Quest, now divorced from her husband, joins the communists and marries its leader, who is a German refugee.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dorislessing.org/afrom.html|title=A Ripple from the Storm by Doris Lessing|website=www.dorislessing.org}}
There are obvious parallels with Doris Lessing's own life, because after she divorced her first husband, she joined the Left Book Club in 1943. It was here that she met her future second husband, Gottfried Lessing, a refugee from Germany.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dorislessing.org/biography.html|title=Biography|website=www.dorislessing.org}}
Reception
Paul Schlueter of The Buffalo News opined that Lessing is "capable of the intricate and methodical care demanded of such a form" and called the series as a whole a "monumental accomplishment."{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/870070130|title= Is Truly Great Woman Write Overlooked?|last= Schlueter|first= Paul|date= 9 April 1966|website= The Buffalo News|publisher= |access-date= 20 March 2025|quote=}} John Wain of The Observer called it a "very good book" and "battleship-grey".{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/257885103|title= POSSIBLE WORLDS|last= Wain|first= John|date= 12 October 1958|website= The Observer|publisher= |access-date= 20 March 2025|quote=}} {{ill|Virgilia Peterson-Sapieha|pl}} of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Lessing "appears to lack" the "negative, but invaluable instinct of knowing what to leave out and when to stop."{{cite web |url= https://www.newspapers.com/image/376357356|title= Scarcely a Break in the Story|last= Peterson-Sapieha|first= Virgilia|date= 3 April 1966|website= Chicago Tribune|publisher= |access-date= 20 March 2025|quote=}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Doris Lessing}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ripple from the Storm}}
Category:Novels by Doris Lessing
Category:Novels set in Rhodesia
{{1950s-novel-stub}}