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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
ART – MIGHT ITSELF BE A SERPENT, WHISPERING IN OUR EARS, SAPPING AWAY ALL OUR SATISFACTION AND OUR BELIEF IN THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD WITH THE IDEA THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING HIGHER AND BETTER WITHIN US WHICH COULD NEVER BE EQUALLED BY WHAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Violence, Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism
challenging
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Second Place follows M, a middle aged writer as she tells her friend Jeffers, through letters or soliloquy, about the time a well renowned but now broke artist and his girlfriend came to live at their guest cottage, the ‘second place.’
Their guest house has been home to creatives for many summers, and M becomes enamoured with the idea of ‘L’, the artist she so highly regards, staying there. She imagines herself becoming a muse and featuring in one of his great works.
When the artist does arrive, it is clear he does not see M as she would have liked to be seen. He is elusive, rude and views himself above all - especially women.
The leads into the main conflict of the novel, which is not so much between L and M, but rather how M views herself. She is so consumed by L seeing her as an equal mind that she cannot think of anything else, it stops her from cultivating new relationships with people in the house and causes friction in her second marriage.
The prose was unique and through M’s narrative explores gender, her feelings of womanhood and maternal bonds, feeling invisible in middle age and insecurities as a writer in a gorgeous way. If Cusk’s other books are like this, I’m excited to pick them up.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
