The Usual Desire to Kill
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Remove from Wish List failed.
Please try again later
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Usual Desire to Kill
Narrated by:
Harriet Walter
Buy Now for $18.05
-
Narrated by:
-
Harriet Walter
-
By:
-
Camilla Barnes
About this listen
Editorial Review
For anyone who's ever been on either side of an "OK, boomer" eye roll?
At its start, Camilla Barnes's debut novel of a family absolutely riddled with generation gaps seems almost like a cosy comedy of errors, enhanced with instantly iconic narration. As expected, Harriet Walter's performance is outstanding and so very British, infusing an air of "Oh, you mustn't bother" and "Don't be so silly" into every breath. But as you move through the story, you realise that Barnes's storytelling style and structure—clearly informed by her career in the theatre—challenges the conventional expectation that family dramas will culminate in a cathartic revelation of truth, any moldering shame sanitised with a cleansing dose of sunny truths. As with most families, there are a lot of past hurts buried here, and the relative positions of each player prevents them from seeing each other—and their history—clearly. But you as the listener are in for a revelatory experience of feeling deep sympathy and love for each and every one of them. —Emily C., Audible Editor
Critic Reviews
‘Hilarious and heartbreaking, packed with acute and painfully funny observations about relationships and family dynamics. Barnes’s dialogue is pitch-perfect, and her characters dance off the page and straight into your heart. Mum and Dad are magnificent creations, eccentric and endearing, both instantly recognisable and utterly singular’
‘Camilla Barnes deftly deciphers the secret language of one family, often with deeply funny and knowing results. I loved spending time in the very specific, complicated and memorable world of this novel’
‘I love nothing more than reading about eccentric families, and the family in The Usual Desire to Kill is just that. Miranda and her sister work to uncover the true story of their parents' marriage, only to have their brilliant, quirky mother and father deflect them at every turn. Barnes has written a witty, moving novel about characters who, even when they seem incapable of speaking honestly, are worth listening to nonetheless’
‘An account of two ageing, secretive, disputatious and thoroughly maddening parents – poignant, funny and brilliantly told through gritted teeth’
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.