Desperate Characters

It all started with a stray cat. Sophie Bentwood wanted to treat it to milk, to share with the unfortunate a small portion of her well-being—so out of reach for many of her neighbors in Brooklyn. But the cat bit her hand. And then a chain of ordinary, yet ominous events begins to torment the Bentwoods. Waiting for rabies tests becomes real suffering and a test for everyone—for Sophie herself, her husband, and their friends. All the fractures and abysses of the “exemplary” Bentwood marriage come to light, as do the problems in Sophie’s relationship with the world and with herself. The novel immerses the reader in the anxious atmosphere of Bergman’s psychological films and Hitchcock’s thrillers, keeping you in incredible tension all the way to the very end. First published in 1970 and widely acclaimed, “Desperate Characters” rightfully considered a pinnacle of American realism.