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A review by libbysbookshelf
Second Place by Rachel Cusk
SECOND PLACE by RACHEL CUSK
And this is my second Booker Prize 2021 read as well. Funny.
The main bulk of this novel takes place over a hot summer in two houses built near marshland. Both houses are owned by the narrator and her husband and they often invite artists to come and stay in the second place. This particular summer, an eccentric old artist has come to stay and has brought his young, beautiful girlfriend. The narrator’s daughter is also there with her boyfriend. And it is among these characters that we learn a lot more about the narrator and how she sees the world as a woman and a mother.
This was my first Cusk experience and the flow of the prose and the strength of voice were so iconic, I’m sure I could pick out a Cusk sentence in a lineup. There was something of the Carter, Atwood, Smith, Moss, Lahiri in her style as well, though. I found myself extremely pensive while reading this over the course of two sittings and I loved the feeling.
If you like quiet books, with a limited pool of characters, set in one location over a period of time, then this is for you. It feels like a perfect summer read, contrary to what gossip mags would have us believe constitutes a summer read!
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramreadsthebooker #rachelcusk #secondplace #book #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookreviewer
And this is my second Booker Prize 2021 read as well. Funny.
The main bulk of this novel takes place over a hot summer in two houses built near marshland. Both houses are owned by the narrator and her husband and they often invite artists to come and stay in the second place. This particular summer, an eccentric old artist has come to stay and has brought his young, beautiful girlfriend. The narrator’s daughter is also there with her boyfriend. And it is among these characters that we learn a lot more about the narrator and how she sees the world as a woman and a mother.
This was my first Cusk experience and the flow of the prose and the strength of voice were so iconic, I’m sure I could pick out a Cusk sentence in a lineup. There was something of the Carter, Atwood, Smith, Moss, Lahiri in her style as well, though. I found myself extremely pensive while reading this over the course of two sittings and I loved the feeling.
If you like quiet books, with a limited pool of characters, set in one location over a period of time, then this is for you. It feels like a perfect summer read, contrary to what gossip mags would have us believe constitutes a summer read!
#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramreadsthebooker #rachelcusk #secondplace #book #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookrecommendation #bookreviewer