 Lessing was inspired to write The Good Terrorist by the Irish Republican Army ( IRA ) bombing of the <unk> department store in London in 1983 . She had been a member of the British Communist Party in the early 1950s , but later grew disillusioned with communism . Three reviewers labelled The Good Terrorist as a satire , while Lessing called it humorous . Some critics called the novel 's title an oxymoron , stating that it highlights Alice 's ambivalent nature , and that she is neither a good person , nor a good revolutionary . 
