The Fifth child

David and Harriett Lovatt are an ambitious couple in the seventies in England: their ambition is not a professional but a personal one. They want to have a big happy family, even if this is against the trend of the times. They buy a big house that they can't afford and plan to have at least six children, possibly eight. They have one, the second follows shortly after, soon they have four. People enjoy staying at their place and family and friends gather in the big house during the holidays. Until the day Harriet is pregnant with her fifth child, Ben... The four previous pregnancies were no breeze, but the fifth is nightmarish. The baby moves in Harriett's womb as if it were trying to claw its way out. It almost kills her. When the child is born, at eight months, Harriett takes an immediate dislike to it. The baby is ugly, strong, with cold eyes and an unusual strength. Ben does not react to marks of affection (that the mother must force herself to show), and is immediately viewed by her as a freak of nature. She thinks of him as a troll or a goblin, a genetic throwback. Growing up, Ben vents his rage at the world. He howls, screams, fight, and attracts the antipathy of everyone around him. Soon people almost cease to visit. The Lovatts kids fear their own brother, an atmosphere of weariness and unhappiness pervades. By his disturbing presence, Ben destroys his own family...