Twelve years after the publication of the fifth child lessing published a sequel called ben in the world following ben into adulthood absent of the lovatt homeboth books portrayals of ben are indebted to radical psychiatrist rd laing who believed psychological breakthroughs could be achieved through breakdowns and that schizophrenia is a sane response to an insane world forming a . The fifth child summary thanks for exploring this supersummary plot summary of the fifth child by doris lessing a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes supersummary offers high quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes characters quotes and essay topics. Study guide for the fifth child the fifth child study guide contains a biography of doris lessing literature essays quiz questions major themes characters and a full summary and analysis. The fifth child summary study guide doris lessing this study guide consists of approximately 29 pages of chapter summaries quotes character analysis themes and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of the fifth child. When old fashioned david and harriet meet at their office christmas party they fall in love and decide to marry the look for a house outside of london where they can settle down and begin pursuing what theyre surprised to discover is a mutual goal a large family with as many as ten children the house they find is enormous and perfectly in line with their dreams but its expensive