Review: "The Fifth Year" by Marlen Haushofer

The Fifth Year by Marlen Haushofer
Translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside
English translation published May 2026 via New Directions
★★★★

Somewhere in the Austrian mountains, a young girl is growing up with her grandparents. The in-between generation is gone: some lost to illness, some lost to war; it is unclear what, exactly, befell Marili's parents, partly because she is old enough to ask questions but not really old enough to understand the full weight of the world in which she is growing up. Instead we see that Marili's grandparents are still grieving losses—some old, some new—that she can register but not, yet, put into context.

This was Haushofer's first published book, with the original Das fünfte Jahr coming out in 1952. War must have been so present still, in broken buildings but especially in the missing and the dead. "This," says Marili's grandmother, "is where they lie, Hans and Franz and your mother. We don't know anything about Stefan and your father, they're somewhere in Russia." (loc. 472*)

I'm reminded a bit of Heidi, of course (though these grandparents are neither recluses nor grumps), and of Claire Keegan's Foster, though the setting and situation are different. Mostly this is a sweet and charming story, but an undercurrent of darkness runs throughout the story, starting with Marili's fear of the crucified Jesus painting hanging in her room and continuing through the grief her grandparents will so clearly carry for the rest of their lives. (I'm extrapolating, but I got the sense that raising another child is more than they'd bargained for, but also that being able to do so in the face of such loss is one of the things that helps them get up in the morning.)

3.5 stars for a quiet and curious book.

*Quotes are from an ARC and may not be final.

Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.