Descent: An Irresistible Tragicomedy of Everyday Life

For the 1991 novel by Jeff Long, see The Descent (novel).
Descent: An Irresistible Tragicomedy of Everyday Life
First edition
AuthorSabrina Broadbent
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMarriage
GenreAutobiographical novel
Roman à clef
Published2004
PublisherChatto & Windus
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
ISBN0099464527

Descent: An Irresistible Tragicomedy of Everyday Life is a 2004 roman à clef by Sabrina Broadbent about a troubled marriage.[1] The protagonist, Genevieve, is a psychiatric nurse whose husband, a filmmaker, leaves her at home while he travels the world having sexual intercourse with well-known actresses.[2] Descent was Broadbent's debut novel and is based on her own marriage.[3] After Descent, her next novel was You Don't Have to be Good, which also takes romantic problems as its subject.[4] Descent was the inaugural winner of the W H Smith Raw Talent Award.[5] Stephen Rodrick of The New York Times called Descent "a touching, smart novel."[6]

  1. ^ Damon Smith (2010). Michael Winterbottom: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. p. xxiii. ISBN 978-1604738414.
  2. ^ Alfred Hickling (April 23, 2005). "Descent, by Sabrina Broadbent". The Guardian. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  3. ^ Emma Hagestadt (June 4, 2010). "You Don't Have to be Good, By Sabrina Broadbent". The Independent. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  4. ^ Emma Hagestadt (July 22, 2009). "Life after the Bea runs out". The Independent. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  5. ^ "The Raw Talent competition has now closed!". W H Smith. Archived from the original on June 5, 2002.
  6. ^ Stephen Rodrick (July 3, 2005). "Michael Winterbottom Gets Naked". The New York Times. p. 4. Retrieved August 29, 2013.