Araceli is the live-in maid in the Torres-Thompson household, just outside Los Angeles. One morning, she wakes to an empty house - except for the two sons, little aliens she's never had to interact with before. Not knowing what else to do, she decides to track down their grandfather. It will be an adventure, she tells the boys. If she only knew . . . When Scott and Maureen return to find the children gone, they do what any right-minded middle class parents would: they panic. Caught in a spiral of guilt, they say things that aren't quite true - and when Araceli is accused of abduction, a national media circus explodes and carefully constructed lives begin to fall apart. THE BARBARIAN NURSERIES is a compelling portrait of our time, which questions how far we will go to protect our ambitions, our liberty and our family.