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The Third Child
The renowned novelist and poet Marge Piercy tells a contemporary love story set in the twin realms of college and national politicsIn the politically prominent Dickinson family, ambition comes first, and Melissa, the third child, has always felt that she comes last. Going away to college offers her a chance at a life free from her brilliant mother's constant scrutiny and her famous father's lack of interest.
There she meets Blake, a man of mixed race and apparently unknown parentage. His adoptive parents are lawyers whose defense of death- row cases has brought them head-to-head with Melissa's father, the former governor of Pennsylvania who is now a U.S. senator.
Melissa and Blake's attraction is immediate; their affair, fiery. Yet Blake is keeping a dangerous secret from Melissa, one that could destroy them -- and their families.
Dealing with themes of love, honesty, identity, and the consequences of ambition, this thoughtful, beautifully written story is a remarkable and provocative page-turner.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published November 25, 2003
12 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
About the author
Marge Piercy
111 books933 followersMarge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Gone to Soldiers, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II.
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
March 13, 2009
I'm irritated reading this book, but I'll probably finish it. I so loved "Woman on the Edge of Time" when I read it in my early twenties, and now I am nearly always disappointed when I read something else by Piercy. I hesitate to reread "Woman ... " for fear of knocking it of the pedestal I put it on when I was so much younger and more idealistic (naive? same coin / different sides?) ... I don't find the voice of Melissa convinving and the other characters are all either flat or each have some element that makes them not believable to me. But, I want to find out what happens (although I think I can predict ... ) so, I'll grit my teeth and keep going. ETA: finished but it didn't redeem itself to me. Thrilling climax, blah, blah blah.
December 3, 2007
Blark. I found certain parts of this story kind of offensive to my sensibilities and other parts just plain not believable. About a spoiled Washington political brat and her struggles to go to college and grow up. Marge, what happened here?
November 25, 2008
I give this book a four because I wanted it to go deeper. However I think the point of the book was to give the reader room to interpret the characters motives on their own, so the writer created that space. I see the value of the technique, but was left wanting more.
July 25, 2019
I agree with almost everyone else who has reviewed this book. It is a tragedy that this has come from the pen of the same author that wrote Woman on the Edge of Time. I actually don’t believe Marge Piercy wrote this.
May 18, 2017
I’m already a huge fan of Marge Piercy, her vivid imagery, and her ability to tackle social and ethical issues in fiction (especially from “Woman on the Edge of Time”). Others were disappointed in this book, but I wasn't. The story focuses on a relationship at the intersection of two totally different experiences of America – the repressive, deeply conservative experiences of a Republican Senator’s daughter and the experiences of a socially-conscious black adoptee. Their personal lives interplay with the political, whilst the juxtaposition of different worlds just shows the chasms between them. Perhaps the plot is not too nuanced, this is a page turner, but Piercy's skill is in highlighting different methods of control (the patriarchal family, media spin, sequestration of dissenters for mental illness and, ultimately, absolute violence) and different methods of resistance (experiencing diversity, broadened horizons, education, subversion, yes, more violence, and, ultimately, love). The predictable inevitability of the ending could be seen as disappointing but I think it leaves the reader to take what they can from the book without providing an unbelievable denouement. A book as relevant today as when it was written – if not moreso, right at the intersection of the personal and the political which is where Piercy's writing usually dwells.
March 24, 2010
The writing style of this book was pretty terrible in my opinion. This author has ignored the basic 'show don't tell' advice when it comes to fiction writing - at least for this novel. You are spoon-fed everything, often repeatedly. The story was a good idea. The characters had the potential to be great characters. But the whole plot relied on the main character being a total moron and not seeing the obvious truth. I read it all the way through, because I very rarely give up on a book I've started. Disappointment all the way, and I'm glad it was easy to read because I wouldn't have wanted to waste any more time than I did getting through it. Pick up this book if you are tired of classics or intelligent reading. You'll soon be begging for decent writing again.
February 25, 2011
The whole book was like a car crash. It was messy, bloody, and horrible, but I couldn't look away. Supposedly to be like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, I was highly disappointed. Everything was predictable and boring. From the very beginning, Blake's motives were so apparent but Melissa is too much of an idiot to see it. Blake was a character that really got on my nerves. Maybe it's just me, but his excessive use of "babe" irritated me. He said it just over ten times, but I was already pulling my hair out the first time he said it. This book did not do anything for me at all. I'm not so sure if I'd want to read anymore of Marge's works.
January 29, 2014
This is not a well written book. The story is improbable, the characters are irritating--every single one!! It sounds like it was written by an adolescent in the throes of her first romance. It also is a very shallow and unresearched attempt to portray corruption in state and federal politics. The dialog is trite, the characters are caricatures, and it is so condescendingly anti-racist that it actually sounds racist. There's a pair of Jewish Lawyers, a black Jewish kid, a bunch of rich white idiots who care only for image and have no real ethics, some Lesbians, and a bunch of minority activist kids who talk smack and use "jive". It succeeds on no level. BLECH.
September 17, 2009
I was pretty disappointed in this book, the story was a good idea that had real potential and the author is someone who I would have expected to be able to really do it justice. But the problem was the central character was incredibly naive and resistant to reality and just was so frustrating to try and connect with. I almost gave up, but was curious to see if the ending I predicted in the middle of the book came to pass, yup.
December 18, 2012
I think that this is easily, totally, 100% my least favorite Marge Piercy novel. The most positive thing I can say about it is that it is the first time I'd ever seen emergency contraception used in a novel, which I liked.
July 21, 2018
Long before "House of Cards" Marge Piercy crafted the character of a power-hungry senator and his single-minded wife, with the more realistic dimension of their children. Career politicians know that children are gold for campaign photographs, and the protagonist, the third child of the title, describes what it was like to grow up in such a family.
This novel felt like a literary experiment: what if "Romeo and Juliet" took place in 21st century in the U.S.? Who would the powerful families be, and what would be the source of their enmity? But this would have made a better drama than novel. By choosing the naive (over-protected and controlled) third child as the narrator, we are never secure in the love of Romeo, a.k.a. Blake. Instead of the great and tragic love story, we get the tragedy of a young woman willing to be used for revenge on her father and mother, an ending that the reader feels sure is coming not even halfway through the tale.
This novel felt like a literary experiment: what if "Romeo and Juliet" took place in 21st century in the U.S.? Who would the powerful families be, and what would be the source of their enmity? But this would have made a better drama than novel. By choosing the naive (over-protected and controlled) third child as the narrator, we are never secure in the love of Romeo, a.k.a. Blake. Instead of the great and tragic love story, we get the tragedy of a young woman willing to be used for revenge on her father and mother, an ending that the reader feels sure is coming not even halfway through the tale.
December 23, 2020
Rarely have I met a less likeable protagonist. Usually Marge Piercy's main characters are people I can identify with, to a degree. Melissa feels like a side character whom Piercy doesn't like very much herself - timid, harebrained and completely lacking any redeeming qualities. Almost any other character would have been more interesting to follow: Merilee, Blake, Karen, Alison, even Rosemary. Still enjoyed the book, since I like Piercy's style, but Melissa's annoying combination of mind-boggling naiveté and privileged egotism spoiled my enjoyment somewhat.
June 13, 2023
Sadly I have to concur with all those lamenting the unlikability of the characters, the weird dialogue from what is supposedly college students in the early oughts, and the tedious but obvious plot. Melissa's lack of self -esteem & neediness actually made me cringe/just pissed me off, though I'm usually more compassionate, especially to neglected children figures. The mother is a shallow, one sided caricature. It's all just very boring and (I guess from reading spoilers) predictable. I also loved Woman on the Edge of Time, bleak as it was, but this one feels preachy, stilted, and unrealistic.
November 21, 2024
What a complicated, messy book. I appreciate what the author was trying to accomplish here but it somehow just didn't work very well. At times the writing took my breath away, it was so perfect. But just as often it took my breath away because it was so bad! It almost feels like it was written by two different people. Furthermore, many of the characters are too one dimensional to be believable. I will say it brought back some good memories of my time in college. But overall I came away disappointed.
December 1, 2019
I picked this book up second hand; it is from 2003. Must have missed it while I raced through other Marge Piercy novels. I was immediately alerted by the words Blake whispered into Melissa’s ear. I knew. Twentysomethings are naive but also self absorbed. The unraveling was harsh but well played in this gifted author’s hands. Not a higher rating as parts were jumbled and crude, and the post shooting chapter felt rushed, as if her editor wanted a conclusion, yesterday.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2020
This book dragged out forever. The story itself had a lot of potential but there's so much extra noise it makes it almost impossible to finish. This was almost my 3rd DNF book eber in my life. The only reason I stuck with it is because it's so early in the year. Based on this book, I probably won't read this author again.
November 9, 2024
Like Romeo and Juliet, Melissa and Blake are the star-crossed lovers in Marge Piercy’s novel, The Third Child (2003). A thriller fueled by political intrigue, passionate love, and explosive secrets, The Third Child explores themes of love, identity, and the consequences of ambition. A compelling and uninhibited read with a storyline some families will recognize.
April 15, 2025
A lot of manipulation and control involved here and I felt myself somewhat unsympathetic to the main character - but maybe that’s a little judgmental.
The ending was dramatic and depressing but perhaps fitting.
The ending was dramatic and depressing but perhaps fitting.
January 8, 2018
My takeaway quote: "She went to the Guggenheim, soothed by its ambiance of clean lines and money."
December 5, 2021
I have loved Piercy's writing before, and this book was a disappointment, and therefore an unpleasant surprise.
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October 3, 2022Disappointing ending
November 3, 2022
Marge Piercy is my favourite author. I haven't read a book by her I didn't like. The Third Child is a good and solid story, but not one of my favourite writings by Marge Piercy.
August 25, 2023
Just couldn't finish it.
January 13, 2025
Terrible ending that was rushed. The story of a young woman (the third child in a political family) and her family.
May 11, 2022
It started out slow for me, went through "dreading" and then "gripping". Ultimately I sort of guessed what was about to happen. No happy ever after here. I guess that's a bit more realistic than otherwise. Sad though. (owned print copy)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2009
This was back on the side of 'didn't like' of hers (I'm about half and half). It was uncomfortable the whole time, with the main struggling pretty much about to boil over the whole time.
And also the content about our US govt has bothered me ever since. And I've been thinking about it ever since, which is why I rated it as highly as I did.
The thing in particular is Piercy's content about our Senate, and how close they are to each other, and far removed from their constituencies, and how bad that is for the country.
So I've thought, back and forth - this is good and that's bad.. no, this is bad and that's good: bi-partisan-ship? Collegial relationships? I think I'm just too politically inexperienced/naive etc.. to get a grasp on it all. I'm having my Mom read it now, am looking forward to seeing what she thinks. Then will probably read it again, should be interesting in the light of this new day.
But otherwise, yeah, I didn't like any of the characters, didn't like their interactions, didn't like the main romantic relationship, etc.. Hmmm, after re-reading, this ranking might go down.. I just have to see if the political comments were maybe her point, and the rest was simply a vehicle, and if that could make it ok..
And also the content about our US govt has bothered me ever since. And I've been thinking about it ever since, which is why I rated it as highly as I did.
The thing in particular is Piercy's content about our Senate, and how close they are to each other, and far removed from their constituencies, and how bad that is for the country.
So I've thought, back and forth - this is good and that's bad.. no, this is bad and that's good: bi-partisan-ship? Collegial relationships? I think I'm just too politically inexperienced/naive etc.. to get a grasp on it all. I'm having my Mom read it now, am looking forward to seeing what she thinks. Then will probably read it again, should be interesting in the light of this new day.
But otherwise, yeah, I didn't like any of the characters, didn't like their interactions, didn't like the main romantic relationship, etc.. Hmmm, after re-reading, this ranking might go down.. I just have to see if the political comments were maybe her point, and the rest was simply a vehicle, and if that could make it ok..
July 22, 2011
This book had the worst font! It's the little things that bug me. The book was about the third child, Girl (of course), who is like lost in her little political family. She has two older sibs who are like her mothers pride and joy and then her and her brother who are kind of left out of everything. This book takes place in current times, even though sometimes I got all confused and thought it took place in the 60's or something, but then the mother emails her children, so I knew it was more current. Just the way everyone talks, it's so old! Or it's so proper that I am not used to it. Girl
"rebels" against her parents and when she goes to college in Connecticut she dates a black boy who she thinks she likes and knows her parents wouldn't approve. Turns out the Boy is totally manipulating the Girl to spy on her parents because of some law her father passed in Pennsylvania and his father died because of it and now essentially Boy wants revenge. Girl was a total idiot for not seeing her as he was kind of an asshole sometimes. In the end, Boy and the father end up dead (not going to spoil on how) but I will say that because the book was kind of meh. I hate stupid Girls.
Grade: C
"rebels" against her parents and when she goes to college in Connecticut she dates a black boy who she thinks she likes and knows her parents wouldn't approve. Turns out the Boy is totally manipulating the Girl to spy on her parents because of some law her father passed in Pennsylvania and his father died because of it and now essentially Boy wants revenge. Girl was a total idiot for not seeing her as he was kind of an asshole sometimes. In the end, Boy and the father end up dead (not going to spoil on how) but I will say that because the book was kind of meh. I hate stupid Girls.
Grade: C
December 2, 2014
Don't be fooled into thinking this storyline is going anywhere. This was an incredibly incoherent book. At times I wondered if it was a young adult novel. For most of it I couldn't decide who the characters were supposed to be--naive, sincere, important, minor, cunning, loving, stupid... The first quarter to third of the novel was interesting, imaging what it might be like to be the child of an "important" public person. The move to college and dating someone "inappropriate" could have made an interesting story. It fell completely apart once the boyfriend was more than that. There was just too much going on and none of it well done. It read like a draft that the author kept changing her mind about. The ending finally just pushed it over the edge into a completely different genre. I felt as if the author had left the book alone for years then came back and accidentally wrote an ending to another book she had started and then dropped. I really did not think it could get any worse but the author proved me wrong page after page.
August 15, 2010
I wanted to read this book because in the past, I have read some of Marge Piercy's poetry and loved it. However, this book I did not. While it kept my attention, it didn't hook me in. The main character, Melissa, was a girl who was just too plain and naive.
With Melissa being the third child, and her father a senator, no one pays attention to her. Instead, the family is focused on having a good reputation in front of America. When Melissa finally moves away to college, she is able to be her self and is asked out by a guy named Blake. They become very close (even get married)and together, try to reveal her fathers campaign secrets in order to bring him down. With time, Melissa finds out that the real reason why Black is obsessed with her father is because years ago, it was her father that sentenced his father to death.
While this book follows the form of "Romeo and Juliet" (so you can probably imagine how it ends), it's not very thrilling until the last 10pages.
With Melissa being the third child, and her father a senator, no one pays attention to her. Instead, the family is focused on having a good reputation in front of America. When Melissa finally moves away to college, she is able to be her self and is asked out by a guy named Blake. They become very close (even get married)and together, try to reveal her fathers campaign secrets in order to bring him down. With time, Melissa finds out that the real reason why Black is obsessed with her father is because years ago, it was her father that sentenced his father to death.
While this book follows the form of "Romeo and Juliet" (so you can probably imagine how it ends), it's not very thrilling until the last 10pages.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews