Desperate Characters

It all started with a stray cat. Sophie Bentwood wanted to treat it to some milk, to share a bit of her well-being, so unattainable for many of her neighbors in Brooklyn. But the cat bit her hand. And a series of ordinary yet ominous events begins to torment the Bentwood couple. The wait for rabies test results becomes a true torment and trial for everyone: for Sophie herself, her husband, and their friends. All the cracks and abysses of the Bentwoods' "exemplary" marriage are exposed, along with the problems in Sophie’s relationships 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 them in incredible tension until the very end.
First published in 1970 and widely acclaimed, "Desperate Characters" rightfully stands as a pinnacle of American realism.