The Usual Desire to Kill: A Novel

Written by Camilla Barnes

Narrated by Harriet Walter

A “droll, psychologically astute…unexpected…very funny” (Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air) and moving portrait of a long-married couple, seen through the eyes of their wickedly observant daughter.

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 decades-old food.

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 an eccentric yet endearing 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 1, 2025
• ISBN: 9781668111086

Camilla Barnes

Camilla Barnes was born and brought up in England but moved to France in her twenties. She lives in Paris and works in theatre, doing every job possible there except act. She writes for the stage in both English and French. The Usual Desire to Kill is her first novel.

Reviews for The Usual Desire to Kill

[Karen Randall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pretty amusing and not sanctimonious story about martial relations/ personal growth. Enough that was unlikely and unbelievable to make it lots of fun. I listened over I think a couple of months but enjoyed picking it back up every time ??. (Only bc I was very busy so I couldn't keep listening!)

[hannastreng · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unassumingly hilarious in the best way. This is not a book you read for the story itself, but for the storytelling.

[atomic1964 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Outstanding dialogue and construction of a family dysfunction humorously portrayed. Beautiful vignettes of recognisable behaviour. Harriet Walter reads and performs like no one else.