I read this book along with Maria Ba's So Long a letter and Ang Li's The Butcher's wife. The three books are set in three different timelines in three different geographies. These three women come from different cultures, different socioeconomic background and their struggles in life are vastly different. Lessing's woman is from upper middle class and we learn about her, her political beliefs, sexual freedom etc. Ang Li's woman experiences marital rape, deals with cruelty directed towards her from both her husband and the women around her. Mariama Ba's woman is a gentle progressive widow overcoming grief of losing her husband and being in polygamous marriage. 
 The three women from these three books cannot be anymore different with various levels of privilege, education, social interaction and independence. Yet, their stories resonate at the same frequency. One cannot discard a story purely based on privilege. Grief has no comparison. Fight for recognition has no scale. Resisting onslaught of invasion in universal. Hope to be better is everyone's prerogative. The woman in Golden notebook maybe better off than the other two with her privileged background, her perspective is important. Anna is important.