It’s our latest Book Club episode, and we’re discussing Rachel Cusk’s latest novel, Second Place.
A woman invites a famous artist to use her guesthouse in the remote coastal landscape where she lives with her family. Powerfully drawn to his paintings, she believes his vision might penetrate the mystery at the center of her life. But as a long, dry summer sets in, his provocative presence itself becomes an enigma—and disrupts the calm of her secluded household.
The book was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, but didn’t make the cut for the shortlist, but are they missing a future classic? Sally Rooney has called it ‘masterful’, saying it ‘achieves a kind of formal perfection’ while the Observer newspaper lauded it as ‘A landmark in twenty-first-century English literature.’ But what did Laura’s book club make of it? And who would we rather have to dinner, Rachel Cusk or Deborah Levy? Listen in to find out, as we’re joined by journalist and regular special guest Phil Chaffee to discuss it.
Beyond Second Place
Book recommendations
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Outline trilogy, by Rachel Cusk, read on audio by Kristen Scott Thomas
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe
The audiobook of Second Place by Rachel Cusk is published by Faber & Faber and narrated by Kate Fleetwood. It’s available for download now.
Notes
You might be interested to read more about Cusk’s inspiration for Second Place, the novel Lorenzo in Taos by Mabel Dodge Luhan
And there’s a helpful New Yorker article for more on Luhan here.
Don’t miss this perfect short video of Cusk discussing writing that encapsulates everything about her that is so exceptional.
Don’t miss
If you enjoyed this episode try episode #61 on Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Over to you
Have you read Second Place? Are you a Rachel Cusk fan? Comment below and let us know, we love to hear from you.
