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“�� this was a story in which I sensed the truth was being sacrificed to the narrator’s desire to win.��

How do we piece together the stories we tell one another? Aren’t all of our stories inherently about the way we perceive events and other people? If the narrative had been told from another’s point of view, it might look quite different. It’s not that we are necessarily being deliberately untruthful. Our own experiences and inner thoughts shape the way we pass information on to the next person. We may also decide to hold back, just a little bit, wary of telling all the details up front. After all, we would like to be seen in a positive light.

“He began to ask me questions, as though he had learned to remind himself to do so, and I wondered what or who had taught him that lesson, which many people never learn.��

I can’t think of very many times when in a few short days I’ve had meaningful conversations with people I know quite well, much less with strangers or mere acquaintances. Yet, the narrator of this novel did just that while on a trip to Athens to teach a writing workshop. I’m a bit envious of her, to be honest. I generally don’t find people to be all that open upon introduction, or even during second or third encounters. People chat, sure, but usually it’s all quite casual. I often wish those I know more personally would open up further as well. Conversations typically skim the surface rather than diving deep. In any case, Cusk’s narrator gets involved in a number of thoughtful and sparkling dialogue with mainly other writers, publishers, students, as well as an airplane companion. I’d like to live in this world- one in which people communicate openly! While the narrator, Faye, learns about these others, we in turn get to know Faye more intimately.

“�� among other things a marriage is a system of belief, a story, and though it manifests itself in things that are real enough, the impulse that drives it is ultimately mysterious.��

While this novel has no real plot to speak of, there are some themes that are returned to frequently as the characters engage with one another over food or drink, in cafés, on planes and boats. Marriage, divorce, children, love and relationships, and the writing process are all explored through these exchanges. Some conversationalists are more loquacious than others, reflecting a greater sense of loneliness. As I was drawn into the heart of the novel, the pain became more and more palpable, particularly that of the narrator. In the end, I was left questioning whether opening up to others is in fact healing, or if it leaves us with an even greater ache, sensing the misunderstandings and chasms between others no matter how hard we try. In the end, my feelings were scattered. I felt somewhat like the wilted flower in the vase here on my table, yet delighted and energized by the scintillating prose and the brilliance of that Greek sun! I’d like some more Rachel Cusk in my life, please!

“�� I was suddenly filled with the most extraordinary sense of existence as a secret pain, an inner torment it was impossible to share with others, who asked you to attend to them while remaining oblivious to what was inside you…��

“I felt that I could swim for miles, out into the ocean: a desire for freedom, an impulse to move, tugged at me as though it were a thread fastened to my chest.��