The Fifth Child

Format:	Paperback 160 pages

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Synopsis

A classic tale from Doris Lessing, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007, of a family torn apart by the arrival of Ben, their feral fifth child. 'Listening to the laughter, the sounds of children playing, Harriet and David would reach for each other's hand, and smile, and breathe happiness.' Four children, a beautiful old house, the love of relatives and friends, Harriet and David Lovatt's life is a glorious hymn to domestic bliss and old-fashioned family values. But when their fifth child is born, a sickly and implacable shadow is cast over this tender idyll. Large and ugly, violent and uncontrollable, the infant Ben, 'full of cold dislike', tears at Harriet's breast. Struggling to care for her new-born child, faced with a darkness and a strange defiance she has never known before, Harriet is deeply afraid of what, exactly, she has brought into the world!

Book details

Published
03/07/1996

Publisher
Flamingo

ISBN
9780586089033

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

'"The Fifth Child" has the intensity of a nightmare, a horror story poised somewhere between a naturalistic account of family life and an allegory that draws on science fiction. Read it and tremble.' Clare Tomalin, Independent '"The Fifth Child" is a book to send shivers down your spine, but one which it is impossible to put down until it is finished. Doris Lessing's power to captivate and convince is evident from the first, and the effect of the odd, alien child on the family is conveyed with quiet understatement which adds to the mounting sense of horror.' Sunday Times 'A disturbing vision, "The Fifth Child" offers a faithful if chilling reflection of the world we live in.' Sunday Telegraph

UK Kirkus review

Many mothers will be familiar with the emotions Harriet has when she first sets eyes on Ben, her fifth child. Initial disbelief, a reluctance to hold him, a pang of disappointment. There is something strange and disturbing about him. Harriet and her husband David have constructed an idyll of perfect happiness in their large house full of children and relatives, but when Ben is born, their world is torn apart. Ben is weird looking, he doesn't speak but makes odd grunts and noises, and he doesn't seem quite human. Although at first you seriously doubt whether there is anything really wrong with the poor child, at the same time you begin to dislike him. Sympathy only comes when Ben is briefly banished to a special home in a bleak Scottish landscape, a drugged creature in a straitjacket. Rescued by his mother and brought back to the family home he becomes ever more nightmarishly 'different' and succeeds in shattering the family. Harriet's dogged devotion is then all the more remarkable as you come ultimately to realize the real and terrible nature of the creature that is Ben. This novel, reprinted five times, is a riveting read and a haunting addition to Lessing's body of work. (Kirkus UK)

About the author

Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing is one of the most important writers of the twentieth century and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature 2007. Her first novel, 'The Grass is Singing', was published in 1950. Among her other celebrated novels are 'The Golden Notebook', 'The Fifth Child' and 'Memoirs of a Survivor'. She has also published two volumes of her autobiography, 'Under my Skin' and 'Walking in the Shade'. Her most recent novel is 'The Cleft'.