Books by Rachel Cusk

New paperback edition of the novel from the dazzlingly talented author of the Baileys-shortlisted Outline.

A woman writer goes to Athens in the height of summer to teach a writing course. Though her own circumstances remain indistinct, she becomes the audience to a chain of narratives, as the people she meets tell her one after another the stories of their lives.Beginning with the neighbouring passenger on the flight out and his tales of fast boats and failed marriages, the storytellers talk of their loves and ambitions and pains, their anxieties, their perceptions and daily lives. In the stifling heat and noise of the city the sequence of voice begins to weave a complex human tapestry. The more they talk the more elliptical their listener becomes, as she shapes and directs their accounts until certain themes begin to emerge: the experience of loss, the nature of family life, the difficulty of intimacy and the mystery of creativity itself.Outline is a novel about writing and talking, about self-effacement and self-expression, about the desire to create and the human art of self-portraiture in which that desire finds its universal form.

When first published in 2001, it divided female critics and readers. One famous columnist wrote a piece demanding that Cusk's children were taken into care, that was she was unfit to look after them. Oprah Winfrey invited her on the show to defend herself and the book as protests grew about the its honest, gritty account of the misery of those early months. It is a seminal, stand-out book on the complications of being an ambivalent mum in an age of white-washed, Annabel Karmel'd new families.

Using her own life as a starting point, Rachel looks at the issues that arise for a woman in the years after she has lived the defining experiences of feminity. She writes about marriage, separation, motherhood, work, money, domesticity and love. Cusk considers the kinds of generational knowledge the contemporary woman harbours, the terrors or expectations that have been passed down to her and that are refracted through the modern transformation of female status.Aftermath is written in the personal/political mode that characterised A Life's Work, Cusk's acclaimed book about becoming a mother.

Forfatteren Faye er inviteret til en litteraturfestival i et sted i Europa for at promovere sin nye bog. Allerede på flyet falder hun i snak med sin sidemand, der begynder at fortælle hende om sit liv. Han fortæller om sit job, sit ægteskab og om den forfærdelige nat, han lige har tilbragt med at begrave familiens døde hund. På festivalen fortsætter Faye samtalerne med de mennesker, hun møder. De taler om de store spørgsmål i livet, om kunst, familie, politik, kærlighed, sorg og glæde, retfærdighed og uretfærdighed, udholdenhed og succes, i både kunsten og livet, og om de erfaringer, man gør sig gennem livets overgange. Med Kudos afsluttes Rachel Cusks kritikerroste og prisvindende trilogi, der er blevet kaldt for en fornyelse af romankunsten, på overbevisende og kraftfuld vis.

Efter sin skilsmisse flytter forfatteren Faye med sine to sønner til London for at begynde på en frisk. Men opbruddet fører andre ændringer med sig - af både personlig, moralsk, kunstnerisk og ikke mindst praktisk karakter. Faye sætter sit hus i stand og taler med de mennesker hun møder i et et forsøg på at genfinde troen på livet, men vakler mellem at føle sig stærk og fuldkommen magtesløs. En elegant og reflekteret roman om menneskers livsfortællinger; om hvordan vi forsøger at styre vores liv ved at fortælle, men også om, hvordan fortællingerne forvandler os. Andet bind af den kritikerroste trilogi, der består af bøgerne Omrids, Transit og Kudos. Pressen skriver: »En eminent forfatter: Andet bind i trilogien om Faye er lige så mesterligt som det første (…) det er stadig menneskers rejser gennem hinanden, der skaber det fantastiske samtidsportræt.« ***** – Politiken »Både hjem og ægteskab er smadret i Transit, anden del af Rachel Cusks mesterlige trilogi, der sender romangenren ad nye veje (…) allerede med de to første bind i trilogien står det lysende klart, at Rachel Cusk har gang i noget ganske særligt.« – Information »Rachel Cusk har skabt en romanform, hvor fortællerens samtalepartnere fylder det meste med dybe refleksioner (…) en helt speciel læseoplevelse.« **** – Kristeligt Dagblad »Tryllebindende.« – Litteratursiden

En trykkende varm sommer tager forfatteren Faye til Athen for at undervise i et skrivekursus. Allerede i flyet på vej derned begynder livshistorierne at udfolde sig omkring hende, og hendes rejse bliver en rejse ind i andre menneskers fortællinger. Som en tom beholder med et lyttende øre lader hun sig udfylde af andres historier. Selvom der næsten intet røbes om Faye selv, tegner der sig gennem hendes spørgsmål og de mange samtaler et billede af en kvinde, der forsøger at komme sig over et stort tab. Pressen skriver: »Vanvittig interessant læsning ... Jeg sidder tilbage med fornemmelsen af at have læst en kommende klassiker.« ****** – Femina »Livskloge Rachel Cusk skriver sig ind under huden på sin læsere med en roman om kvinden alle har lyst til at betro sig til.« ***** – Politiken »Fornyer romankunsten.« ***** – Kristeligt Dagblad »Cusk udforsker friheden ved at tie helt stille. Det er frysende gjort.« – Weekendavisen »En virkelig vellykket roman. Forestil dig, at Henry James' psykologiske mesterværk 'De ensomme i Venedig' møder Karen Blixens øje for detalje og mystik, og du har en fornemmelse af, hvad Rachel Cusk kan.« – Litteratursiden

I 2009 gennemgår Rachel Cusk en skilsmisse, og i efterdønningerne står en kvinde med sine to døtre. Hun er ramt, rasende og sårbar, og samtidig må hun definere rollen som kvinde, mor og menneske på ny. Og hun må forholde sig til egne bristede drømme og illusioner såvel som omverdenens forestillinger og konventioner.Som fraskilt føler hun sig kastet ud af fællesskabet af mere vellykkede kernefamilier og gifte venner, der trænger sig på med velmenende råd. Kan hun genfinde fodfæstet og skabe en ny hverdag for sig selv og sine børn, når intet længere føles stabilt eller normalt? Hvordan er man en god mor for sine teenagebørn? Og hvad med kærligheden?Efterskælv udkom på engelsk i 2012 og vakte furore. Den foregriber på mange måde den banebrydende Faye-trilogi (Omrids, Transit og Kudos), der har taget anmeldere og læsere med storm og har gjort Rachel Cusk verdensberømt, som en fornyer af romankunsten i form og skrivestil.I Efterskælv vender hun blikket indad og ser på parforholdet, kærligheden, moder- og forældreskabet gennem sit præcise og usentimentale sprog. Det er en undersøgelse og en fortælling, hvor sandhedssøgen aldrig går på kompromis med sprogets og fiktionens skønhed. Cusk forener lynskarp analyse med en rammende og rå beskrivelse af mennesker og relationer i krise og forandring. Det er en bog om en kvinde og en lille familie på vej gennem kaos fra et sted til et andet, fra en livsform til en anden. "Hun er så præcis, så præcis, så præcis!" Ida Jessen "En exceptionel formidler af kvindelig erfaring." Financial Times"Viser os, at litteraturen, i lighed med livet, er mest intens, når alt står på spil." Morgenbladet"Et mesterværk." Dagens Nyheter

A woman invites a famed artist to visit the remote coastal region where she lives, in the belief that his vision will penetrate the mystery of her life and landscape. Over the course of one hot summer, his provocative presence provides the frame for a study of female fate and male privilege, of the geometries of human relationships, and of the struggle to live morally between our internal and external worlds. With its examination of the possibility that art can both save and destroy us, Second Place is deeply affirming of the human soul, while grappling with its darkest demons.

Omrids-trilogien gjorde Rachel Cusk verdenskendt som en blændende observatør og stilist. I denne bog vender hun blikket indad og beskriver sine oplevelser med at blive mor - på godt og ondt. En fortælling om at sige farvel til frihed, søvn og tid til at skrive, og en lektion i ydmyghed, hårdt arbejde og afgrundsdyb kærlighed. Bogen vakte stor forargelse, da den udkom i 2001, og gjorde Rachel Cusk til en af Englands mest kontroversielle forfattere. I dag regnes Et Livsværk for en milepæl i moderskabslitteraturen og har for længst fået klassikerstatus.”Cusk viser med stor styrke, hvor ømt og brutalt moderskab er.” - Independent ”Rachel Cusks bog om hendes første år som mor, er noget af det skarpeste, jeg har læst om moderskab.” - Berliner Zeitung

When prize-winning author Rachel Cusk decides to travel to Italy for a summer with her husband and two young children she has no idea of the trials and wonders that lie in store. Their journey leads them to both the expected - the Piero della Francesca trail and queues at the Vatican - and the surprising - an amorous Scottish ex-pat and a longing for home - all seen through Cusk's sharp and humane perspective. Exploring the desire to travel and to escape, art and its inspirations, beauty and ugliness, and the challenge of balancing domestic life with creativity, The Last Supper is a wonderful travel book about life on the most famous art trail in the world, from one of Britain's most pre-eminent writers.

Agnes Day - sub-editor, suburbanite, failure extraordinaire - is unwell. Terminally middle-class, incurably romantic and chronically confused by life's most basic interactions, Agnes discovers disconcerting gaps in her general understanding of the world, making recovery unlikely. Life and love go on without her, but with a little facade, she can pass herself off as a success. Beneath the fiction, however, the burden of truth becomes harder to bear. 'She is a writer with a poet's eye for convincing detail, and touches on the raw emotions of life in a way that is affecting and true.' Sunday Telegraph'Told with irony and insight and some surreally beautiful imagery. At times it made me laugh out loud.' Sheila Mackay

Efter den kritikerroste Faye-trilogi er Rachel Cusk aktuel med Det andet sted, endnu en knivskarp roman fra en af vor tids mest kritikerroste engelsksprogede forfattere. Det andet sted er spækket med Cusks sylespidse sprog og observationer over ægteskab, forældreskab, begær og det at blive ældre.En kvindelig forfatter inviterer en kunstmaler, som hun længe har været dybt fascineret af, hjem til sit isolerede landsted i England, hvor hun bor sammen med sin nye mand. Her har hun istandsat et anneks, som forfattere og kunstnere kan bo i. Efter at maleren har holdt hende hen i flere måneder, dukker han pludselig op sammen med sin unge, smukke elskerinde. Et tiltagende komplekst og destruktivt socialt spil begynder at udfolde sig. Forfatteren higer efter malerens opmærksomhed, han for sin part ignorerer hende fuldkommen, når han ikke er direkte fjendtlig – indtil han en dag indvilger i at male hende, og alt spidser til. Både ægteskab og familierelationer sættes på spil i det drama, der udvikler sig i de nu tiltagende klaustrofobiske omgivelser i det engelske marskland - og personernes indre skyggesider begynder for alvor at spejle sig i deres handlinger.

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEARAfter the publication of Outline, Transit and Kudos - in which Rachel Cusk redrew the boundaries of fiction - this writer of uncommon brilliance returns with a series of essays that offers new insights on the themes at the heart of her life's work.

Michael first met the Hanburys of Egypt Hill when he was a young student. He was intrigued and delighted by their bohemian lifestyle and bravado. Twelve years later, married with a young son, Michael is invited back to the house and jumps at the chance of escaping his increasingly turbulent domestic situation. But his illusions about the family are shattered as the rotten core of the Hanbury myth is gradually revealed. Intimate in its insight, epic in its emotional scope, In the Fold is a brilliant, clever, often painful story of how we can become undone by our yearning to belong.

When one of corporate London's transient typists unexpectedly crosses Ralph Loman's path, her disruptive beauty ignites a brief blaze of excitement in his troubled heart. But Francine Snaith is ravenous for attention, driven by a thirst for conquest, and when Ralph tries politely to extricate himself he finds he is bound in chains of consequence from which it seems there is no escape.

Since leaving his job to look after Alexa, his eight year old daughter, Thomas Bradshaw has found the structure of his daily piano practice and the study of musical form brings a nourishment to these difficult middle years. His pursuit of a more artistic way of life shocks and irritates his parents and his in-laws. Why has he swapped roles with Tonie Swann, his intense, intellectual wife who has accepted a demanding full-time University job? How can this be good for Alexa and for the family as a whole?Tonie tunes herself out of domestic life, into the harder, headier world of work where long-since forgotten memories of herself are awakened. She soon finds herself outside their tight family circle and alive to previously unimaginable possibilities.Over the course of a year full of crisis and revelation, we follow the fortunes of Thomas, Tonie, his brothers and their families: Howard, the older, more successful brother and his gregarious wife Claudia; and Leo, lacking confidence, propped up by Susie, his sharp-tongued, heavy-drinking wife. At the head of the family, the ageing Bradshaw parents continue their marital dynamic of bickering and petty undermining.The Bradshaw Variations is a powerful novel about how our choices and our loves and the family life we build will always be an echo - a variation - of a theme played out in our own childhood. The novel, Cusk's sixth , shows a prize-winning writer at the height of her powers.

Arlington Park, a modern-day English suburb, is a place devoted to the profitable ordinariness of life. Amidst its leafy avenues and comfortable houses, its residents live out the dubious accomplishments of civilisation: material prosperity, personal freedom, and moral indifference. For all that, Arlington Park is strikingly conventional. Men work, women look after children, and people generally do what's expected of them. Theirs is a world awash with contentment but empty of belief, and riven with strange anxieties. Set over the course of a single rainy day, the novel moves from one household to another, and through the passing hours conducts a deep examination of its characters' lives: of Juliet, enraged at the victory of men over women in family life; of Amanda, warding off thoughts of death with obsessive housework; of Solly, who confronts her own buried femininity in the person of her Italian lodger; of Maisie, despairing at the inevitability with which beauty is destroyed; and of Christine, whose troubled, hilarious spirit presides over Arlington Park and the way of life it represents.Rachel Cusk's sixth novel is her best yet. Full of compassion and wit, each page laden with truth, she writes about her characters' domestic lives, their private thoughts and fears with an intelligence and insight that will leave readers reeling.

Stella Benson sets off for Hilltop, a tiny Sussex village housing a family that is somewhat larger than life. Her hopes for the Maddens may be high, but her station among them, as au pair to their irascible son Martin - is undeniably low. What could possibly have driven her to leave her home, job and life in London for such rural ignominy? Why has she severed all contact with her parents? Why is she so reluctant to talk about her past?The Country Life, Rachel Cusk's third novel, is a rich and subtle story about embarrassment, awkwardness and being alone; about families, or the lack of them; and about love in some peculiar guises.