--- product_id: 32246696 title: "Martha Quest: A Coming-of-Age Classic in Colonial Africa – First Children of Violence Novel" price: "¥4189" currency: JPY in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/32246696-martha-quest-a-coming-of-age-classic-in-colonial-africa store_origin: JP region: Japan --- # Martha Quest: A Coming-of-Age Classic in Colonial Africa – First Children of Violence Novel **Price:** ¥4189 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Martha Quest: A Coming-of-Age Classic in Colonial Africa – First Children of Violence Novel - **How much does it cost?** ¥4189 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.jp](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/32246696-martha-quest-a-coming-of-age-classic-in-colonial-africa) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "I read the Children of Violence novels and began to understand how a person could write about the problems of the world in a compelling and beautiful way. And it seemed to me that was the most important thing I could ever do." — Barbara Kingsolver Intelligent, sensitive, and fiercely passionate, Martha Quest is a young woman living on a farm in Africa, feeling her way through the torments of adolescence and early womanhood. She is a romantic idealistic in revolt against the puritan snobbery of her parents, trying to live to the full with every nerve, emotion, and instinct laid bare to experience. For her, this is a time of solitary reading daydreams, dancing — and the first disturbing encounters with sex. The first of Doris Lessing's timeless Children of Violence novels, Martha Quest is an endearing masterpiece. Review: Lessing's Lessons Resonate - I've lately been re-reading all of Lessing's works, and am enjoying the experience enormously. I first began reading her about 15 years ago, and I find that the older I get, the more prescient she seems (although that has little to do with this particular work), and I'm struck by her ruthless willingness to confront the highly uncomfortable facts of her own life, and her ability to create such fully formed characters that the reader attains such a level of intimacy with them that they seem wondrously alive, and events of 80 years ago seem immediate. As a voracious reader, I seldom revisit authors once I have exhausted their oeuvre, but Lessing draws me back. If you've never read her, Martha Quest is a good place to start, and I challenge any reader to come away from Lessing unchanged. Review: Beautiful Writing - Doris Lessing writes so well that her prose is like music, and she has such a natural and easy grasp of the violent emotions that control and betray our better selves. "Martha Quest" is her semi-biographical depiction of a young and sensitive woman coming of age in a racist patriarchy -- just as her political conscious is about to be awaken she succumbs to the social pressures swirling around her and the personal anxieties that haunt from within her. Compared with "The Grass is Singing," "Martha Quest" is a lesser work, but it is still worth a read if only for its rhapsodical prose. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #569,033 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4,699 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction #20,047 in Literary Fiction (Books) | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 132 Reviews | ## Images ![Martha Quest: A Coming-of-Age Classic in Colonial Africa – First Children of Violence Novel - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61KGkGYXAkL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Lessing's Lessons Resonate *by S***E on December 27, 2018* I've lately been re-reading all of Lessing's works, and am enjoying the experience enormously. I first began reading her about 15 years ago, and I find that the older I get, the more prescient she seems (although that has little to do with this particular work), and I'm struck by her ruthless willingness to confront the highly uncomfortable facts of her own life, and her ability to create such fully formed characters that the reader attains such a level of intimacy with them that they seem wondrously alive, and events of 80 years ago seem immediate. As a voracious reader, I seldom revisit authors once I have exhausted their oeuvre, but Lessing draws me back. If you've never read her, Martha Quest is a good place to start, and I challenge any reader to come away from Lessing unchanged. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful Writing *by J***N on October 16, 2015* Doris Lessing writes so well that her prose is like music, and she has such a natural and easy grasp of the violent emotions that control and betray our better selves. "Martha Quest" is her semi-biographical depiction of a young and sensitive woman coming of age in a racist patriarchy -- just as her political conscious is about to be awaken she succumbs to the social pressures swirling around her and the personal anxieties that haunt from within her. Compared with "The Grass is Singing," "Martha Quest" is a lesser work, but it is still worth a read if only for its rhapsodical prose. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Martha Quest *by A***Y on April 9, 2014* I grew up in a colonial African country and thought Doris Lessing captured the atmosphere of those times very well. I first read Martha Quest in the 1980s and remembered it as good. Now that I have read it again 30 years later I realise it is far better than good. Martha is a very real heroine - a young girl from a conservative racist background who inclines instinctively to a more liberal view yet lacks the knowledge and the sophistication to articulate this. Her youthful anger and frustration and rebellion against her roots is described beautifully as is the boorish juvenile racism of the young men at the sports club. My revisiting of this book taught me that while many of our faculties decline with age our ability to appreciate and understand literature just grows and grows. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.jp/products/32246696-martha-quest-a-coming-of-age-classic-in-colonial-africa](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/32246696-martha-quest-a-coming-of-age-classic-in-colonial-africa) --- *Product available on Desertcart Japan* *Store origin: JP* *Last updated: 2026-09-28*