A Flavour of the Book: “He turned the key in the side and wound up the mechanism. In little jerks the soldier’s tiny sword ascended until it was held above his head. Then it came down on the back of the dark-skinned man’s head. There was a hesitation and a little click, and then the man’s head came off and fell into a basket. Joe laughed uproarishly”.
The Authortrek View: This is a sharply observed story about a number of families who live in Arlington Park. Although the back cover describes it as “an ordinary English suburb”, all the families are middle class. ‘Arlington Park’ sounds almost like ‘Gosford Park’, and although there are definitely no servants to help Christine as she prepares dinner for her neighbours, this novel, like the movie, provides a vivid snapshot of the English (albeit more contemporary). There is even a murder. The voice of each character is so authentic that it feels as though Rachel Cusk has been hanging around shopping malls for inspiration, although the realism of some of the characters may leave a bitter taste at the back of some mouths. Rachel Cusk’s prose is exquisitely composed – she is undoubtedly a very fine writer. However, there is a suspicion that many of the tales within the book started off as short stories, and if one were being cynical, one could say that they have been bridged together at the dinner party because novels sell better than short stories. Yet Arlington Park does hang together very well, and the bridges, such as Juliet’s cutting of her hair, are subtle and work very well. Although I am surprised that Christine is described as an ‘optimist’ on the back cover, as her voice always seems quite disparaging. I doubt that there is any writer better than Rachel Cusk at exposing the hopes and fears of modern middle class women.
You can read a resume of the book on our Amazon store below. To find out more about the author, please visit our Rachel Cusk page.
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