The usual desire to kill : a novel / Camilla Barnes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barnes, Camilla, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Families--Fiction.

Families.

Parent and child--Fiction.

Parent and child.

Family secrets--Fiction.

Family secrets.

Interpersonal relations--Fiction.

Interpersonal relations.

Genre:

Psychological fiction.

Romance fiction.

Domestic fiction.

Fiction.

Novels.

Physical Description:

249 pages ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First Scribner hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Scribner, 2025.

Summary:

"Miranda's parents live in a dilapidated house in rural France that they share with two llamas, eight ducks, five chickens, two cats, and a freezer full of food dating back to 1983. Miranda's father is a retired professor of philosophy who never loses an argument. Miranda's mother likes to bring conversation back to "the War," although she was born after it ended. Married for fifty years, they are uncommonly set in their ways. Miranda plays the role of translator when she visits, communicating the desires or complaints of one parent to the other and then venting her frustration to her sister and her daughter. At the end of a visit, she reports "the usual desire to kill." This wry, propulsive story about a singularly eccentric family and the sibling rivalry, generational divides, and long-buried secrets that shape them, is a glorious debut novel from a seasoned playwright with immense empathy and a flair for dialogue." -- Provided by publisher.

ISBN:

9781668062838

1668062836

OCLC:

1511567657