He asks M why she “plays” at being a woman, refuses to paint her portrait while asking everyone else to sit for him, and generally fills her with frustration and doubt.

While Brett wields clumsy, unintended insults, L proves himself to be subtly poisonous, preying on insecurities – particularly M’s – and pulling apart confidences. The pair goes on to displace the narrator’s daughter, 21-year-old Justine, and boyfriend, Kurt, from “the second place” on the property, and then they insert themselves into the family’s crowded dynamic. And L seems intent on causing discord from the moment he arrives, bringing an uninvited companion – Brett, his young, beautiful non-girlfriend – along to the secluded coastal marsh.

“In the midst of the practical reality of my life with Tony, I felt the lure of abundance again, emanating from L,” M admits. Early on, M herself is established as a woman in crisis, searching for meaning and inevitably inviting chaos, which her guest happily provides. Lawrence’s visit to the author’s home, Second Place recasts Lawrence as a difficult and occasionally cruel painter named L. Told in the first person, Cusk’s 11th work of fiction recounts a summer in which our middle-aged narrator, M, encourages an admired artist to visit the secluded home she shares with her husband the subsequent narrative offers ample room for Cusk’s signature explorations.Ī tribute to Mabel Dodge Luhan’s Lorenzo in Taos, a 1932 memoir that details D.H. Like much of Rachel Cusk’s writing, Second Place feels more like a conduit for philosophical and cultural thought than mere storytelling.

Rachel cusk second place review