Items related to The Fifth Child
Synopsis
Classic horror 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 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...
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Review
The married couple in this novel pull off a remarkable achievement: They purchase a three-story house with oodles of bedrooms, and, on a middle-class income, in the '70s, fill it to the brim with happy children and visiting relatives. Their holiday gatherings are sumptuous celebrations of life and togetherness. And then the fifth child arrives. He's just a child--he's not supernatural. But is he really human? This is an elegantly written tale that the New York Times called "a horror story of maternity and the nightmare of social collapse . . . a moral fable of the genre that includes Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and George Orwell's 1984."
From the Inside Flap
A self-satisfied couple intent on raising a happy family is shocked by the birth of an abnormal and brutal fifth child.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherJonathan Cape
- Publication date1988
- ISBN 10 0224025538
- ISBN 13 9780224025539
- BindingHardcover
- LanguageEnglish
- Edition number1
- Number of pages133
- Rating
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The Fifth Child
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
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Condition: Very Good. Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00082408488
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Fifth Child
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Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I3N00
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Fifth Child
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I4N00
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Fifth Child
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I4N00
Quantity: 1 available
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Fifth Child
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I3N00
Quantity: 1 available
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Fifth Child
Seller: ThriftBooks-Reno, Reno, NV, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I4N00
Quantity: 1 available
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Fifth Child
Seller: ThriftBooks-Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.76. Seller Inventory # G0224025538I4N00
Quantity: 1 available
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The Fifth Child
Published by
Jonathan Cape Ltd 21/04/1988, 1988
ISBN 10: 0224025538
ISBN 13: 9780224025539
Used
Hardcover
Seller: AwesomeBooks, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. . Seller Inventory # 7719-9780224025539
Quantity: 3 available
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The Fifth Child
Seller: MusicMagpie, Stockport, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. 1729152031. 10/17/2024 8:00:31 AM. Seller Inventory # U9780224025539
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The Fifth Child
Published by
Vintage Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 1988
ISBN 10: 0224025538
ISBN 13: 9780224025539
Used
Paperback
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This novel tells the story of two people who want the same things - fidelity, love, family life and a stable home. They are out of line with the fashions of the 60s, but life seems to smile on them until Harriet's fifth pregnancy, when everything starts to go wrong.Doris Lessing is author of "The Grass is Singing", "The Golden Notebook", "Briefing for a Descent into Hell", "The Good Terrorist" and "The Sirian Experiment". The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003028692
Quantity: 5 available