The Cleft

Doris Lessing invites us to imagine a mythical society free from sexual intrigue, jealousy, and petty rivalries: a society free from men. An old Roman senator, contemplative at his late stage of life, recounts the story of human creation through the history of the Clefts, an ancient community of women living in an Edenic, coastal wilderness. The Clefts have no knowledge of men—childbirth is controlled through the cycles of the moon, and their children are always female. The birth of a strange boy disrupts their harmony, leading to the boys being rejected and exposed on a mountain. The story explores themes of gender, coexistence, and societal change.