The Fifth Child

The Fifth Child

infobox Book |
name = The Fifth Child
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Doris Lessing
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = HarperCollins
release_date = 1988
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 159
isbn = 0-586-08903-9
preceded_by =
followed_by = Ben, in the World

"The Fifth Child" is a novel by Nobel Prize-winner Doris Lessing, first published in the United Kingdom in 1988, and since translated into a number of languages. The book describes the changes in the happy life of a married couple, Harriet and David Lovatt, which occur as consequence of the birth of Ben, their fifth child.

The novel is in some senses a traditional "gothic novel", but it tackles a variety of themes encompassing childhood development, the nuclear family, the difficulties of pregnancy, and the treatment of disabled children. The novel's most significant passages play upon universal human fears of the unknown, in the vein of much great horror fiction. A sequel, "Ben, in the World" (2000) further develops Ben's life after he has left his family.


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