Lucky Ones, The (Shortlisted For Whitbread Prize (Novel) 2003

Description:
The much-praised new novel from award-winning author Rachel Cusk, who was one of Granta's Best of British writers. In this profound study of human relationships, five overlapping narratives of love and detachment merge to form a powerful evocation of family identity. A young pregnant woman's misfortune; a new father's disaffection; a daughter's search for lost childhood; a mother's antagonism; a wife's secret suffering -- through it all runs the story of Victor Porter, a campaigning lawyer, and his journalist wife Serena, in whose relationship the conflict between the public and the personal, between love and morality, is played out. Rachel Cusk writes of life's transformations; of what separates us from those we love and what binds us to those we no longer understand. The Lucky Ones is a novel about creating and sustaining life. It illuminates with startling precision the texture and complexity of emotional existence within 'the bustling concourses of life.'

Review:
'The Lucky Ones has a theme equal to its author's wit, intelligence and genius for observation. This novel is not a particularly comfortable place to be, partly because it's so much like life and partly because Rachel Cusk is brilliant at depicting unattractive characters. But anyone who has ever lived in a family will relish it.' Cressida Connolly, Daily Telegraph 'Her prose is measured and poised. She shares Virginia Woolf's interest in making art out of the minutiae of women's inner monologues.' Stephanie Merritt, Observer 'Compelling, profound and crafted in precise prose dripping with wit.' John Harding, Daily Mail 'You want to gasp with the shock of recognition at a rarely articulated thought delivered with a visceral punch.' Independent 'Restrained, elegant and fiercely observant.' Jane Shillilng, Daily Telegraph 'Impressively written' Marie Claire 'Cusk's writing unsettles by transforming the everyday into a strange and frightening place. She has taken old concerns and given them new life. All this is accomplished with her startling prose!The nuances of relationships, of motives which cannot be understood, are given voice, and it is a magical one.' Kath Murphy, Scotland on Sunday Cusk's is a unique voice! her observations are so intelligent and multi-layered! her style has a rhythm that sucks you in and pulls you along! An intelligent read from a stong feminist voice of our times.' Time Out 'This is not a book about the joy of families, but one which will be recognised by anyone who has children as being full of uncomfortable truth.' Lesley Garner, Evening Standard

Prizes:
Shortlisted for Whitbread Prize (Novel) 2003.

Author Biography:
Rachel Cusk is the author of three novels: SAVING AGNES, which won the Whitbread First Novel Award, THE TEMPORARY, and THE COUNTRY LIFE, which won a Somerset Maugham Award. Her non-fiction account of becoming a mother, A LIFE'S WORK, was one of the most talked about books of last year.