
The Golden Notebook
British novelist, 1919–2013.
The Golden Notebook is a 1962 novel by Doris Lessing.
On 6 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Doris Lessing
- First published
- 1962
- Length
- 576 pages (UK paperback)
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Feminist, Political, Postmodern
Is The Golden Notebook worth reading?
6 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian) and The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009) | No. 89 | See the list |
| All-Time 100 Novels (Time, 2005) | Listed | See the list |
| Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 45 | See the list |
| The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015) | Listed | See the list |
| The 100 greatest British novels (BBC Culture, 2015) | No. 24 | See the list |
Best edition of The Golden Notebook
The edition we link to is the Fourth Estate paperback (2022), 576 pages.
- Publisher
- Fourth Estate (paperback, 2022)
- Pages
- 576
- ISBN
- 9780008553814
How critics and readers rate The Golden Notebook
Critics rate it most highly: it earned 51% of the points available on critics' lists, against 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Golden Notebook
If you liked The Golden Notebook, try Ulysses, Lolita or Atonement.



