The Fifth Child
Doris Lessing · 1919–2013 · United Kingdom / Zimbabwe
Why it matters
A comfortable English family's fifth child arrives feral, violent, and unlovable, curdling the mother's utopian dream of a large happy household. Lessing's most compact, most frightening book, a domestic horror story about the limits of maternal love.
At a glance
gothicpsychological novel
Difficulty 4/10fast pace133 pagesShort and propulsive, though the mounting dread is psychologically unsettling.
Where to go next
Doris Lessing · 1950The Grass Is SingingLvl 4Medium pace
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Doris Lessing · 1962The Golden NotebookLvl 8Slow burn
Doris Lessing · 1974Memoirs of a SurvivorLvl 6Slow burn
Simone de Beauvoir · 1954The MandarinsLvl 6Slow burn
Ingeborg Bachmann · 1971MalinaLvl 8Slow burn