The fifth child vs The Newcomes: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Domestic fiction, British and irish fiction, Fiction
The fifth child
A self-satisfied couple intent on raising a happy family is shocked by the birth of an abnormal and brutal fifth child.
vs
The Newcomes
“A CROW, who had flown away with a cheese from a diary window, sate perched on a tree looking down at a great big frog in a pool underneath him.”
The Newcomes is Thackeray's most essentially 'Victorian' novel, generous in its proportions, sharp in its criticism of the moral convolutions of the age, and encyclopaedic in its reference. Set in the 1830s and 1840s, a…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The fifth child is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 14 for The Newcomes.
- The fifth child has the widest readership — 26079 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The fifth child | The Newcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (26079) | 3.7 (275) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (30) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (48) | — |
Reception
| The fifth child | The Newcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 26079 | 275 |
| Editions | 42 | 76 |
| Citations | — | 22 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 23105 | 1026 |
| Reading it now | 526 | — |
| Written reviews | 2935 | 29 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1239 | 382 |
| Pages | 193 | 801 |