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A review by kjboldon
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So many trigger warnings. Do not read this book if you are pregnant, especially if you are having a difficult pregnancy, or if you have a child who is/was particularly challenging. This is a horror book. It's short; I read it in one day and kind of glad to have experienced it that way, not dragging out the slow burn of its terrifying events.
David and Harriet are throwbacks to hippie culture in the 60s. They want a big house and a lot of kids, and in short order they have them, only because David has a wealthy family and Harriet's mom can provide support and childcare. They build a mostly idyllic life, having friends and family over for extended stays at Easter and Christmas. Harriet births four babies in quick succession and everything is going mostly great until she gets pregnant with the titular fifth child. It was not a wanted pregnancy, and while her earlier ones weren't easy, this one is grueling. Family is angry with them, and the word selfish is lobbed back and forth among the family at a rate and strength that cast serious doubt on that "idyll" that everyone was so happy to partake of twice a year for days and even weeks at a time.
Harriet knows something is wrong with the pregnancy, and when she sees her new son, that something is wrong with him. Her GP keeps insisting that everything is within the range of normal, though. But as things turn dark and then darker, and then, oh my goodness the one interlude with Harriet making another choice the family strongly disagrees with, well, this book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Like Harriet's pregnancy, this book has no breaks and thumps along at a hectic pace. It raises questions that have no easy answer about good and evil, love and duty, and the difference between what we think and what we do. Who is responsible? Who is selfish? And what would you have chosen, when Harriet defied the family?
All these questions are given more resonance after I read a group bio of artist mothers called The Baby on the Fire Escape by Julia Phillip. Lessing's chapter details how her early marriage disintegrated, and how her ex husband not only withheld the children from her, but also criticized her to them, furthering the rift, until she left for England in despair, not simply "abandoning" her family, as many biographies of her reductively portray.
This book was fascinating and enthralling, but also, deeply disturbing and horrifying. Proceed with care.
David and Harriet are throwbacks to hippie culture in the 60s. They want a big house and a lot of kids, and in short order they have them, only because David has a wealthy family and Harriet's mom can provide support and childcare. They build a mostly idyllic life, having friends and family over for extended stays at Easter and Christmas. Harriet births four babies in quick succession and everything is going mostly great until she gets pregnant with the titular fifth child. It was not a wanted pregnancy, and while her earlier ones weren't easy, this one is grueling. Family is angry with them, and the word selfish is lobbed back and forth among the family at a rate and strength that cast serious doubt on that "idyll" that everyone was so happy to partake of twice a year for days and even weeks at a time.
Harriet knows something is wrong with the pregnancy, and when she sees her new son, that something is wrong with him. Her GP keeps insisting that everything is within the range of normal, though. But as things turn dark and then darker, and then, oh my goodness the one interlude with Harriet making another choice the family strongly disagrees with, well, this book is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. Like Harriet's pregnancy, this book has no breaks and thumps along at a hectic pace. It raises questions that have no easy answer about good and evil, love and duty, and the difference between what we think and what we do. Who is responsible? Who is selfish? And what would you have chosen, when Harriet defied the family?
All these questions are given more resonance after I read a group bio of artist mothers called The Baby on the Fire Escape by Julia Phillip. Lessing's chapter details how her early marriage disintegrated, and how her ex husband not only withheld the children from her, but also criticized her to them, furthering the rift, until she left for England in despair, not simply "abandoning" her family, as many biographies of her reductively portray.
This book was fascinating and enthralling, but also, deeply disturbing and horrifying. Proceed with care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism