The bus won't be far away now. Hobart GPO, Elizabeth Street. October 2011. Just the one book finished this week, although that was enough to push me past my nominated 85 book challenge at the beginning of the year (more on that later). This week it was Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child . Billed as a "contemporary gothic horror", it centres on the unravelling of a serene family-life upon the arrival of their fifth child. I'm not sure about this book. I think that I can grasp the key themes: modern society's drift from its more brutal past, the notion of a maternal bond, the authoritarian character and the thin veneer of civility. I'm just not convinced of the characters. I'm not sure how I'm to feel about the characters, and hope that the sympathy I felt for the 'monster' at the centre of the piece is a fair result. Nonetheless, it is a decent read and can be recommended. I'd avoid it if you're expecting a baby any time soon though...