Chapters Eighteen and Nineteen Summary and Analysis

Peter Lessing is born in October of 1946. When the Cold War begins, Gottfried and Lessing suddenly realize they are pariahs, unacceptable in society because they are communists. More people start coming to the Lessing apartment, to talk and to be around the new baby. She realizes she has become an emotional soup kitchen for these people, and has problems finding time to write. After years of being told her father is dying, her father actually does die. Although the cause of death is listed as heart failure, Lessing believes the truth is that he died from the First World War. Lessing is restless and unhappy, and knows her marriage to Gottfried is not working. She has romances with men from the RAF, and she walks with the baby in the pram all night long.

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