Rachel Cusk got inspiration for this fable-like novel from a real situation, but it's better not to know more than that. Her writing is eerily haunting, and her style, elliptical, but the story flows smoothly and the characters are sometimes charming sometimes exasperating. As with most of her work, I find I can't put it down, but she respects her readers and leaves a lot up to them.

4.5, rounded up.

Cusk's 'Outline' trilogy, the only other works of hers I've read, made my top reads list of 2018, and this new novel will squeak in for this year's list also. It's a dense and thought-provoking read. and would benefit, I believe from a second close reading, in order to plum all its depths (as it was, I went back and re-read the first chapter once I'd finished, in order to settle some nagging questions I had left).

Much like the trilogy, I suspect this is a work of auto-fiction, although our narrator here, known only as 'M', is not quite the same persona as Faye of the earlier works. The title alone has at least three, if not four 'meanings', and often I had to go back over passages to make sure I was gleaning what the author intended. So this is NOT a 'light read', but it certainly rewards the reader's attention, and often borders on sheer brilliance. I hope it gets as much critical and awards attention as her early works merited.

Sincere thanks to F S & G and Netgalley for the ARC, in exchange for this honest and enthusiastic review.