The Fifth Child

By: Doris Lessing

Narrated by: Sue Pitkin

Doris Lessing's contemporary gothic horror story - centered on the birth of a baby who seems less than human - probes society's unwillingness to recognize its own brutality.

Harriet and David Lovatt, parents of four children, have created an idyll of domestic bliss in defiance of the social trends of late 1960s England. While around them crime and unrest surge, the Lovatts are certain that their old-fashioned contentment can protect them from the world outside - until the birth of their fifth baby. Gruesomely goblin-like in appearance, insatiably hungry, abnormally strong and violent, Ben has nothing innocent or infant-like about him. As he grows older and more terrifying, Harriet finds she cannot love him, David cannot bring himself to touch him, and their four older children are afraid of him. Understanding that he will never be accepted anywhere, Harriet and David are torn between their instincts as parents and their shocked reaction to this fierce and unlovable child whose existence shatters their belief in a benign world.

©1988 Doris Lessing (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with A.A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Not at all Horror

This was an interesting story that shows the struggles of a family with their child unlike the others. It wasn't scary. Instead it was eye opening.

Amazing read/listen. Highly recommended.

This books stands out, and was very appealing to me. It's a rapidly moving story, with many layers, thought provoking in an intelligent way.

This book is just of a completely different caliber than many others, and this is not an opinion based on her winning the Nobel prize etc. I'm hard to convince with fluff/social proof. As a matter of fact, what makes me say this - hoping helpful for you to give this a try:
I added 8 different new titles to my library, all of the others were those books that had 110,000 + 4 - 5 stars reviews on Amazon. I started several of them, but gave up after about 1 hr, and have actually returned three of them. There is simply no real 'spunk' in the books, nothing that scratches you. This one however, (in spite of me not being 100% in love with the narrator), pulls me in, and kept me hooked. I would even prolong certain outdoor tasks so I could keep on listening.

I would comment on the story or the book itself, there are many great analyses to read, simply: This is a shorter, and highly worthwhile read. Very thought-provoking, and psychologically compelling read.

A wonderful story about how random chance can wreak havoc

Doris Lessing pens a tale about a couple who, after four perfectly well-behaved children, seemingly out of nowhere parent a loathsome child. Partly a cautionary tale and partly just bad luck, this almost novelette is spare in the details but will give any parent pause, including myself.

demon child

This book really kept me on the edge of my seat Both author and narrator were excellent. You didn't know what to make of this child...the anti Christ , sociopath, psychopath, soulless being.etc. I was hoping to know who or what is this or it. The narrator voice did not take away from the story. Well worth my time. It is thought provoking that there are "people" out there like this.

Such a boring and headache at times.

I had to read this book for English and parts of it were interesting. However, lots of it was kinda of boring and annoying seeing how arrogant some of the characters were. It was also a little eerie at times, yet it doesn’t feel like horror for most of it.

Hard to believe it's Lessing!

Hard to believe it's Lessing - let alone a Nobel Prize winner! Doesn't begin to approach her previous books. The story build to a slow sub-boil and then it's like someone suddenly turns off the heat! Plus it was more like half of a book - the ending fizzled unexpectedly. Like a balloon that instead of popping - the air slowly leaked out of it. Plus again the narrator left a lot to be desired.!

The terror

The terror escalated, which kept me listening. I was disappointed in the ending. I wanted something to be resolved.

Demon?

After finishing this book I have to say that I did like it. I did though however think it would have more of a "demon like quality" to it. There definitely was but I was expecting a bit more. To me the book was a great read though. I would recommend it and listened to it in one day it was very short. I do like a book that has more of a creep factor to it but although this one did have it just not as much as I was hoping for.

Great story!

Dark & surreal in the vein of The Stepford Wives. Perfection goes very wrong. Also a great commentary on the stories we all tell ourselves.

60's, English Family Drama

It is hard to review this with out giving the story away. I understand why this was in the Horror Section, but it is not scary. This is a hard story to pigeon hole. It has a very sixties mood, involving a man and a woman, who are not exactly normal to begin with. One of them has rich parents who pays for their house. They decide that they want as many children as possible. The lead female has problems with all of her pregnancies, yet keeps having kids. It seems like people are always coming over and staying with them. Their life is so different from mine, it was hard to relate.

I think anyone who has had an abnormally difficult child and who has worried about their normal children because of this child, might relate. The book also takes a close look at how our society treats those who are different. I did listen to the whole thing, but it is not long. If you get it, just don't expect a horror novel.