The Fifth Year

Synopsis

Set over the course of a single year, The Fifth Year follows five-year-old Marili as she lives with her grandparents on a farm in the Austrian mountains after the loss of her parents during the war. Through the changing seasons, she encounters the rhythms of rural life with wonder, curiosity, and quiet apprehension, discovering a world filled with both tenderness and hidden menace.

Told from a child's perspective, the novel captures the beauty of the natural world while revealing the fears, dreams, and unspoken grief that shape Marili's inner life. Delicate yet deeply unsettling, The Fifth Year showcases Marlen Haushofer's extraordinary ability to uncover the psychological tensions that lie beneath seemingly ordinary lives.

About the Author

Marlen Haushofer (1920–1970) was an Austrian novelist best known for her modern classic The Wall. Her fiction is celebrated for its psychological depth, lyrical precision, and exploration of solitude, nature, and the inner lives of women and children. The Fifth Year is translated from the German by Amanda DeMarco.

Publisher
New Directions

Publication Date
October 28, 2025

Format
Paperback

Pages
160

Subjects
Literary Fiction · Translated Fiction · Austrian Literature · Modern Classics

ISBN
9780811239981