Rating: 
Summary: Distressing Tale of Family Lies and Secrets
Review: "Fifth Born" is a distressing tale of generations of family secrets and lies. Odessa, the fifth born of a dysfunctional family, is caught in the middle of her family's lies and secrets. She tries desperately to be accepted by her mother while trying to stay out of the way of her abusive father. Though Odessa's mother is physically abused by her father and knows that he is sexually abusive to Odessa, she chooses to turn her head and make up excuses and stories to cover his misdeeds. There is no safety, even in her mother's arms, for Odessa. She lives her young childhood in loneliness and fear while clinging to the only goodness she's known, the memory of her deceased grandmother - until the real truth is revealed.Wonderful debut novel! I completed reading it in just two evenings. I am looking forward to Ms. Lockhart's next novel.
Rating:
Summary: What's Done In The Darkness Shall Come To Light"
Review: After reading this poetic, lyrically written novel, I smiled and silently cried to myself. There's an old biblical saying-"What's done in the darkness shall come to light." And Odessa, the narrator, has found the light and a beautiful new beginning. A beginning where destiny lies and the process of healing begins. Odessa's life is filled with lies. She has heard lies for so long, she has started to believe them. Most of her childhood scrapes and bruises (all lies) came from falling down the basement stairs or tripping on the vent. Even the birthmark on her face is a disguised lie for the truth. Odessa's world consists of changing baby diapers, dodging her malicious "Deddy" who molested her twice, and finding her place within a family that harbors secrets. At times, I wanted to choke Bernice, Odessa's mother, for neglecting her daughter's needs emotionally and mentally. Bernice allowed and enabled her alcoholic, pedophile husband to steal the pure innocence of Odessa. She was denied a childhood that should have been filled with playing, after-school activities, and making friends. I truly enjoyed "Fifth Born" because it was a great story. A story I will remember for a very long time. I look forward to reading books by this author in the future. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: Painful and Poignant!
Review: Fifth Born is the heart-wrenching debut saga of Odessa Blackburn, the fifth born child to verbally and physically abusive parents, in the tenements of St. Louis, MO. From as far back as she can remember, she has treaded lightly and second-guessed her moves to be the good, obedient child who seeks the love and approval of her parents. However, chaos and neglect reign supreme in the Blackburn household. Her father, an alcoholic and incestuous pedophile, nearly blinds Odessa in one eye during a drunken stupor and ultimately molests Odessa and other female members of the household whenever her mother is absent. Sadly, her mother discovers the incident and does nothing. Throughout Odessa's young life, she sporadically gets encouragement from a teacher, an older sister, an uncle, and the belief in her deceased grandmother's unconditional love for her. She learns hard lessons but eventually becomes more self-reliant, self-assured, and starts to exhibit some traits of self-love. The salvation to her dark and painful existence comes from an unlikely source in an unexpected ending. She discovers that her search for truth was not in vain and it is a liberating reward for her lifelong quest. Lockhart's writing style reminds me of Alice Walker's - it is intense and pointed, but this new author has a unique voice all her own. A great debut novel! Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO Bookclub, Nubian Circle Book Club
Rating:
Summary: So far so good...
Review: I hate to admit but I have not yet finished the book. Unfortunately, I am the only one in the family that bought it back when it first published. I would not have known about it if it was not for the mention in a magazine article. The book reads like a Toni Morrison novel (my favorite author). Although I am in the family, I cannot identify with many references in the book. As far as "Daddy" is concerned, I never could connect with him while he was living. In fact, I only referred to him through someone else (for instance, "your father", "your dad"), but rarely grandad or my grandfather. I hope that certain portions of the book are truly FICTION and added for literary purposes. For an entertaining read, I still recommend the book to anyone-- including the rest of my family.
Rating:
Summary: PAINFUL, POIGNANT, AND POWERFUL
Review: I knew I was in for an intense journey by the book cover and the book blurb, but I had no idea how much this story would take me up and refuse to let me go. It has been a while since I experienced such agony for a character while reading a book. The last time I can recall was when I was reading "Push" by Sapphire. Then, as now, I wanted life to get better for the main character with every paragraph I read. I wanted all the 'bad' people to go away and for the love she so deserved, to arrive. But "Fifth Born" is no fairytale. It's the story of a little black girl name Odessa and the horrors of her family's past. A past that makes her an innocent victim, but too, a past that will ultimately set her free. Ms. Lockhart had written a stunning debut. I finished the book an hour ago and I am still breathless by it. A thousand times I wanted to reach into the pages and rescue Odessa. I wanted to do away with her 'deddy' and shake up her mother. I wanted to bring back her dead grandmother, the only person whom she felt really loved her. This is what a great book does--it makes you reaction strongly and intensely. Ms. Lockhart had crafted an intimate, heartbreaking story, one that I will not soon forget. Margaret Johnson-Hodge
Author of "True Lies"
Rating:
Summary: Very moving...
Review: I read the reviews on this book and decided to give it a try. I was not disappointed. Odessa's life takes one turn after another with her grandmother dying (she was her favorite grandchild), her parents' fighting, her sexually, mentally and physically abusive father and the identity crisis she stumbles upon at the end. She never quite "fits" into the family of 8 children being the fifth born. She is always looked upon to take care of the younger siblings and has more responsibility than most adults. I must say that I would like to see a sequel to this book because after Odessa finds out the truth about her self, I want to know how she adjusts. This book moved me from beginning to end. It is a must read.
Rating: 
Summary: Fifth Born by Zelda Lockhart
Review: In the story of Fifth Born, the author gives us a pretty good description of who the main character is. Odessa is the main character and she is not the perfect little daughter. She wines a lot and loves attention. In the beginning of the story she is the baby of the family, but in due time her mother has more children. That is when she adores her mother, but her mother doesn't treat her special anymore because she is not the baby. Everyday she wishes her mother would reach out and hug her like she used to, but all she gets is her mother yelling at her everyday. Through out her adolesence she deals with all of her older siblings making fun of her: they make fun of her because she wears glasses, and laugh at her because she cries all the time. Through out the story you learn about Odessa's family, her personality, and her life struggles.
In the story, Odessa experiences a lot more than the usual child. She has survived her father molesting her, her mother hitting her, and seeing her uncle being murdered. All these incidents effect her in a major way. The author describes in great detail every scene and emotion that all the characters are feeling. When you are reading a paragraph, you feel as if you are sitting in the house with the family. The plot doesn't seem to change from the beginning of the story and that is probably the thing that I do not like about this book. There is drama from the beginning of the story all the way until the end. But you get sick of hearing how disfunctional this family is and it starts to get predictable. There are some shocking points in the story, but for the most part, it stays at the same pace through the whole thing. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone that has a short attention span, because it gets old after you get through half of it. But if you are a patient reader then it is somewhat interesting. I do love how the author makes you feel exactly what the characters feel, and how she makes you feel like you are in the story. The way the author writes gives you exactly the perfect picture you need to picture the image in your head. I just do not like how the story is predictable and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Long buried secrets?
Review: In this emotionally charged debut novel, Zelda Lockhart takes us on a journey through the eyes of a little girl named Odessa as she deals with the consequences of generational curses in her family. In FIFTH BORN, Odessa is the fifth of eight children in the dysfunctional Blackburn family. She experiences so much abuse that it is hard to understand how the child is able to function at all. Loni and Bernice head the Blackburn family. Loni is the alcoholic and abusive father with some deep-seated jealousies concerning his brother. Bernice is abused by Loni and is portrayed as a non-caring mother that doesn't bat an eye at what she knows is happening to Odessa and then later blames her for it. Odessa feels that the only people who show her any real love is her grandmother who dies in the beginning and uncle Leland who is killed in "self-defense." As Odessa searches through Grandmama's things, she finds a note in a Bible that leads her on a journey that will uncover secrets buried long ago and changes the course of her life forever. Ms. Lockhart has written a great book that allows the reader to feel the emotional trauma that Odessa experiences as the result of psychological, physical and sexual abuse in her home. I found myself on an emotional roller coaster, as I dealt with the pain and obvious suffering this little girl endured. I could've reached into the pages and delivered a knockout punch to Bernice for allowing and participating in brutalizing an innocent little girl. Lockhart did an excellent job with the characters and capturing perfectly the African-American life of the deep South in the 70's. Being from the South myself and remembering, I was transported back in time when dad was called "Deddy" and you only whispered about the family down the road where incest and physical abuse was prevalent. This was truly a moving experience and well worth it in Lockhart's freshman effort. Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: To think this could be true...
Review: My heart simply weeps for Odessa, the fifth born daughter of a neglectful, irresponsible mother and a pedophile, child abuser father. Odessa's childhood was anything but happy. She suffered mightily at the hand of her father, who through one of his drunken rages almost rendered his daughter blind in one eye. Her mother, more content with having a man in her life than having happy, healthy, well adjusted children, became very adept at making excuses for that sorry excuse of a husband at the expense of her children. Odessa desperately sought love and attention from her mother but instead received orders, conflicting messages, and merciless taunting from her immediate family. Her father eventually took it upon himself to have his way with Odessa and her mother chose to ignore and pacify this horrendous act as well. Odessa's only solace was her undying belief in the love that she remembered being lavished upon her by her grandmother when the family went back to visit her each summer. From all accounts, this doesn't seem like a nice novel to read. It's not for the faint of heart because the topics are difficult to talk about and even more difficult to understand but let me assure you that this book should be read. Ms. Lockheart has a different perspective on the situation that causes the reader to keep turning the pages. Odessa has resolve, Odessa has character and she is occasionally reassured by her older sister and other members of her extended family that know what a child needs. The ending is spectacular and for that reason alone endeavor to read Fifth Born. Generational curses are followed in this novel and I can see how Odessa's mother didn't learn how to handle crisis as a child. She never saw her mother handle situations appropriately but thankfully someone realized that wrong was wrong and shouldn't be propagated any further. I can only hope that this was purely fiction from the author's standpoint. This debut novel has excellent writing and immediately draws you in. Heart wrenching, yes this novel is, but well worth the read. For all of the Odessa's in the world this fictionalize accounting of the atrocities of childhood, the time it takes to read and let Odessa sink into your psyche is well worth it. If I were the author, I would hope that this work would spur people to pursue with vigor, the protection of innocence in children.
Rating:
Summary: To think this could be true...
Review: My heart simply weeps for Odessa, the fifth born daughter of a neglectful, irresponsible mother and a pedophile, child abuser father. Odessa's childhood was anything but happy. She suffered mightily at the hand of her father, who through one of his drunken rages almost rendered his daughter blind in one eye. Her mother, more content with having a man in her life than having happy, healthy, well adjusted children, became very adept at making excuses for that sorry excuse of a husband at the expense of her children. Odessa desperately sought love and attention from her mother but instead received orders, conflicting messages, and merciless taunting from her immediate family. Her father eventually took it upon himself to have his way with Odessa and her mother chose to ignore and pacify this horrendous act as well. Odessa's only solace was her undying belief in the love that she remembered being lavished upon her by her grandmother when the family went back to visit her each summer. From all accounts, this doesn't seem like a nice novel to read. It's not for the faint of heart because the topics are difficult to talk about and even more difficult to understand but let me assure you that this book should be read. Ms. Lockheart has a different perspective on the situation that causes the reader to keep turning the pages. Odessa has resolve, Odessa has character and she is occasionally reassured by her older sister and other members of her extended family that know what a child needs. The ending is spectacular and for that reason alone endeavor to read Fifth Born. Generational curses are followed in this novel and I can see how Odessa's mother didn't learn how to handle crisis as a child. She never saw her mother handle situations appropriately but thankfully someone realized that wrong was wrong and shouldn't be propagated any further. I can only hope that this was purely fiction from the author's standpoint. This debut novel has excellent writing and immediately draws you in. Heart wrenching, yes this novel is, but well worth the read. For all of the Odessa's in the world this fictionalize accounting of the atrocities of childhood, the time it takes to read and let Odessa sink into your psyche is well worth it. If I were the author, I would hope that this work would spur people to pursue with vigor, the protection of innocence in children.
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