This study, originally published in 1990, assesses a shift in the presentation of self-consciousness in two pairs of novels by Doris Lessing and Carmen Martín Gaite: 1) Lessing's The Summer Before the Dark (1973) and Martín Gaite's Retahílas (1974) and 2) Lessing's The Memoirs of a Survivor (1974) and Martín Gaite's The Back Room (1978). Three major structural divisions facilitate examining implications of the novels for 1) feminism 2) literary narrative and 3) the lives of people-at-large.

Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction Section 1: Lives 1. The Tellers Section 2: Women and Authority 2. Feministics 3. Depsychologicalization 4. Narrating "She" and "I" Section 3: Midlife 5. Midlife in Literature 6. Mind of One's Own Section 4: Language and the Tales 7. The Ways of Language 8. Through a Wall Darkly 9. On the Edge. Conclusion. Epilogue. Bibliography.