 Lessing said she was inspired to write The Good Terrorist by the IRA bombing of the Harrods department store in London in 1983 . She recalled , " the media reported it to sound as if it was the work of amateurs . I started to think , what kind of amateurs could they be ? " and realised " how easy it would be for a kid , not really knowing what he or she was doing , to drift into a terrorist group . " Lessing already had Alice in mind as the central character : " I know several people like Alice — this mixture of ... maternal caring , ... and who can contemplate killing large numbers of people without a moment 's bother . " She described Alice as " quietly comic [ al ] " because she is so full of contradictions . She said she was surprised how some of the characters ( other than Jasper , Alice 's love interest ) developed , such as the pill @-@ popping and fragile Faye , who turned out to be a " destroyed person " . 
 Lessing said she was inspired to write The Good Terrorist by the IRA bombing of the Harrods department store in London in 1983 . She recalled , " the media reported it to sound as if it was the work of amateurs . I started to think , what kind of amateurs could they be ? " and realised " how easy it would be for a kid , not really knowing what he or she was doing , to drift into a terrorist group . " Lessing already<a href='been_done' title='1'><mark></mark></a> had Alice in mind as the central character : " I know several people like Alice — this mixture of ... maternal caring , ... and who can contemplate killing large numbers of people without a moment <a href='null_genetive' title='2'><mark>'s</mark></a>bother . " She described Alice as " quietly comic [ al ] " because she <a href='drop_aux' title='3'><mark>is</mark></a>so full of contradictions . She said she was surprised how some of the characters ( other than Jasper , Alice <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>love interest ) developed , such as the pill @-@ popping and fragile Faye , <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>who</mark></a>turned out to be a " destroyed person " . 
Lessing said she was inspired to write da Good Terrorist by the IRA bombing of tdaHarrods department store in London in 1983 . She recalled , " thdaedia reported it to sound as if it was the work of amateurs . I started to think , wht kind of amateurs could they b ? " and realised " how easy it would be fa a nigga , not really knowing what he or she was doin , to drift into a terrorist group . " Lessing already been had Alice in mind as the central character : " I kno several niggas like Alice — this mixture of ... maternal caring , ... and who can contemplate killing large numbers of folks w/o a moment  bother . " She described Alice as " quietly comic [ al ] " because she so full of contradictions . She said she was surprised how some of the characters ( other den Jasper , Alice  love interest ) developed , such as the pill @-@ popin and fragile Faye , turned outt to be a " destroyed person " .