cover image Full House: The Story of the Anderson Quintuplets

Full House: The Story of the Anderson Quintuplets

Jo Robinson, Karen Anderson. Little Brown and Company, $16.95 (282pp) ISBN 978-0-316-03953-6

Assisted by Robinson, a freelance writer, Anderson tells the story of one happy family. Married right out of their teens, she and her husband Eric wanted nothing more than life with many children. They settled in Portland, Washington. But from 1965 through 1971, six miscarriages ended the couple's hopes for babies of their own, and they adopted two infant boys, Eric Jr. and Paul. Then the Andersons made headlines in 1973, with the birth of quintuplets. As the mother describes the daily doings in the ""full house,'' she relates intimate momentsmerry, worrying and touching. By the time quints Scott, Roger, Owen, Diane and Audrey were off to school at age six, they were very much individuals in their own right, as were their older adopted brothers, thanks to their loving, wise parents. As the story is related here, it's clear that the Anderson household is a blessed one. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to McCall's; Doubleday Book Club selection. (June 25)