A Domestication

A boundary-shattering actress finds herself sick to death of her own success story

“A single travesti is enough to undermine the foundations of a home, to  undo the bonds of commitment, to break a promise, to turn your back on a life,” reflects the unforgettable actress at the heart of this slyly subversive novel—travesti being Camila Sosa Villada’s chosen term for trans women like herself, a reclaimed slur that celebrates the transgressive spirit. From tough rural beginnings, the actress has made no compromises in pursuit of her art, yet somehow she’s arrived at a time of triumph, with not only a thriving stage career but all the other trappings of success: a beautiful home, an adoring husband, an adored child. So why does she feel so stifled and unfulfilled? When a family road trip to the actress’s hometown takes some unsettling detours into the past, the whole glittering edifice she’s built for herself threatens to implode.

Sexy, funny, deeply moving, and unapologetic in its ambivalence, A Domestication reinvents the tragicomedy of domestic dysfunction for us all.