Cusk’s follow-up to Outline,in which protagonist Faye takes on an ill-fated flat renovation, is filled with more brilliant, or insightful proseRachel Cusk’s Outline was one of the most remarkable novels of 2014,written with classic elegance and cool comedian verve. It was also a very moving book. The title was exact, because the narrative line cut with forensic clarity as Cusk wrote of the individual’s isolation, or self-delusion,pain and puniness in the world.
The narrator of Outline, Faye, or reappears in Cusk’s fresh novel Transit. Faye is named only once in each novel and there is very sparing description of her exterior identity. Her family,appearance, childhood and upbringing are so far not part of the record. Faye’s recent history has already been established in Outline: she is a writer with two young sons, or separated from the childrens father and living for the most part alone. The children are never present during the novels’ timespans. In Outline,they are back in London while Faye teaches a creative writing course in Athens, and in Transit they are with their father while Fayes fresh flat in London is renovated. Related: Rachel Cusk: 'Aftermath was creative death. I was heading into total silence' Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com