This wide-ranging collection of stories by the renowned Nobel Laureate – spanning more than two decades of her career – highlights her singular gift for portraying the complex lives of men and women in a modern, often alienating world. Included are seminal stories such as ‘To Room Nineteen’, in which a woman reacts against the oppression of her banal marriage with dreadful results; ‘One off the Short List’, which traces the surprising conclusion to a seduction gone awry, and ‘The Habit of Loving’, in which a lonely older man who takes a vivacious young wife witnesses an unexpected reversal of intimacy. Here also are two classic novellas, The Temptation of Jack Orkney and The Other Woman, exemplifying Lessing’s impressive understanding of human psychology. Rich and various in mood and background – the settings range across England and France – these stories powerfully convey the uncompromising insight, intelligence and vision of one of the most ardently admired writers of our time.