Doris Lessing’s The Good Terrorist is a remarkable character study, exploring the experiences and influences that transform revolutionary dilettantes into actual terrorists. Set in London in the early- or mid-1980s (I believe, although the timeframe is never explicitly mentioned: Margaret Thatcher is running the country; millions are unemployed and dissatisfied with the Labour Party), the novel focuses on Alice Melling, an erstwhile British communist.
Alice is a fascinating, complex character. The child of solidly middle-class parents, she rejects the creature comforts of the middle-class and identifies with the disenfranchised working poor. She is university-educated but has never held a job, preferring instead to drift from squat to commune, living off her government allowance and furthering “the cause.” Ever since university she has attached herself to Jasper, a selfish, manipulative queen who ruthlessly exploits her helpless adoration of him; since she has an irrational fear of physical contact and sexual connection, being in unrequited love with to a gay man suits her just fine.
Alice’s current group of companions, calling themselves the Communist Centre Union, needs a home. She finds a derelict house and they lay claim: moving in, cleaning out the rubbish, and getting the plumbing working again. Alice is incredibly competent, doing the bulk of the work herself and dealing with the police and various governmental agencies to enable the commune to squat in the house. Soon the house is quite nice and more people join the commune: along with Alice and Jasper are a lesbian couple, motherly Roberta and crazy Faye; two heterosexual couples, Bert and Pat (members of the CCU) and Mary and Reggie (Greenpeace activists who just need a place to live); and Philip, an unemployed tradesman. Under Alice’s careful care, the commune becomes a family – which is just what Alice is looking for, having abandoned her own.
Article comments
1 - Cellinda
It's very hard to be openly gay, lesbian or bisexual. They usually got harassed, beaten up, pushed around and called all kinds of slurs. They would say all sorts of horrible things for the wrong reasons.
So I think for GLBT, they'd better find some online community or something like that, to come out first, where they may feel support, happy, free, just like the one BisexualMingle. Then they can come out step by step.