The premise of this book is really interesting: in Rome, on pre-Christian times, it was discovered that women came to existence before men. The first humans were female and they gave birth to other females only. Males came to existence afterwards, when babies with different apparatus simply started to be born.
The first tribe of women lived close to the sea and had a laid back existence, until the first men were born and made the world as it was known slowly change. The book follows this change and shows us how women started sacrificing what they called “monsters”, by abandoning the babies. Some of them, however, survived and managed to create a settlement. We also see the development of the relationship between both tribes. All this is told to us by the narrator, a Roman citizen, who is a historian and decided to tell the world about this discovery.
Personally, I am not so sure of what to think about this book. At first, I thought the idea was provoking and different, because it showed the beginning of humanity through a feminist view. But as the narrative continued I realised the author seems to think that the differences between men and women are natural aspects of both genders, and I do not agree with this idea.
I agree with the theories that say gender differences are, mainly, a social construction, therefore, this book trying to say the contrary kind of put me off. Doris Lessing depicts the first men (who were called Squirts) as adventurous, explorers and hunters, while women (called Clefts) were homey, nagged a lot and cared about their offspring. The differences between genders come from ancient times, according to this book. In my opinion, this just makes Lessing’s view of gender roles seem even more archaic and imprisoning.
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