Where to start with: Rachel Cusk

From a novel sequence that dispenses with much of what we expect from fiction to fearlessly honest memoirs of motherhood and divorce, Cusk is a challenging writer. But also a genius

To say that the work of Rachel Cusk has provoked strong reactions is an understatement. The author of 12 novels and three works of nonfiction as well as Coventry, an essay collection, her three-decade career has taken her from witty, observant, and critically acclaimed novels of middle-class manners to fictional experiments at the very limits of character. Yet it is her nonfiction that has provoked the most public vitriol, in its merciless exploration of womanhood and its refusal to sugarcoat or minimise her own actions in relation to divorce and motherhood. Twice longlisted for the Booker, she has received an array of prizes and nominations, and was among Granta’s 2003 list of the best of young British novelists. Those who have already devoured all of Cusk’s writing will be excited to know that her new novel, Parade, will be published this week – but for those coming to the author fresh, here’s a guide to her backlist.

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