ABSTRACT
In 1983 Lessing attempted a hoax by publishing The Diary of a Good Neighbour under the name "Jane Somers," and If the Old Could. . . under the same name the year after; her intent in the experiment was to see whether novels could be published on their merits instead of on an author's name and reputation. But neither realistic book, one focusing on a fashion magazine editor's relationship with a dying older woman, the other on a never-consummated love affair and relationship with her niece, is very good: characters are banal, plots are sentimental, and insights into any larger world view are limited.
