First edition
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| Author | Sabrina Broadbent |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Marriage |
| Genre | Autobiographical novel Roman à clef |
| Published | 2004 |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| ISBN | 0099464527 |
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]
The novel is based on Broadbent's previous marriage. Broadbent had been married to Michael Winterbottom and had had two daughters with him, but the couple divorced; Andrew Eaton suggested that Winterbottom went on to reflect the family's life in fiction as well, in the film Genova, although Winterbottom denied this claim.[7] As an autobiographical novel, Descent specifically documents the deterioration of Broadbent's marriage to Winterbottom as a result of his long work-related absences.[8] Broadbent began writing the novel at age 49, after taking a Jacksons Lane course in creative writing.[9] In relation to Descent, Broadbent said, "I didn't really set out to write a novel... I was writing about a woman who gets to that point in her life that everything seems to be collapsing."[10]
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