Lessing, Doris - The fifth child

"The fifth child" is a novel that was written by the English author Doris Lessing.
Harriet and David are a half-sided couple with a rather "outmoded" vision of happiness: in the full libertarian ferment of the 1960s, they believe in the family and yearn to bring eight children into the world. They flaunt a daring traditionalism: they buy a three-story villa in the English countryside, complete with a mortgage, and David's father (a millionaire owner) ends up paying the expenses.
There is no approval around young spouses, but their irresponsible outbursts attract curiosity and kindness a little 'interested in the parentado: in a short time become the center of an extended family, and the villa is now a pilgrimage destination.
The first part of the novel stages the realization of a moral and life project, with the children who follow each other in a continuous coming and going of people by home, and the happiness that spreads through the blurring of character and class conflicts.

The same Harriet and David were amazed: the night, embraced, almost ashamed of their joyful existence where every sacrifice is rewarded and every problem is resolved almost by itself (especially after the mother of Harriet and a widowed friend have moved to the villa to help out).
For some years there is a sort of temporal flattening dominated by an euphoric conviviality and an undifferentiated holiday, while the two protagonists insist on their dream without contraceptives. Until the fifth pregnancy arrives, that is a fifth challenge to fate. Already the abnormal vitality of the fetus is a bleak signal.
The story here seems to reveal a metaphorical course, with the Evil which, finally, presents the bill. After a few months Harriet is destroyed, and gets nerved. Skirmishes, tensions, disbelief among the permanent guests who forgive her in every respect: she's tired, you understand, she gives birth in a continuous stream, and she can not stand it anymore. Someone, in fact, suggests a pause. She is restless, goes to the doctor, but reassures her. But more than a pregnancy is facing an ordeal. The child writhes, bad-footed, and Harriet can not sleep anymore. In the eighth month he gives birth to a yellowish monster of five kilograms, with a strange face and a cold gaze that does not soften anyone.
In this novel, the author has carried out a relatively simple idea of ​​\ u200b \ u200blooking at the diversity of people depending on the contexts, and has succeeded, feeding into the soul of the reader further questions, all very heavy and impossible to ignore.