About the book
Juliet is enraged at the victory of men over women in family life. Amanda is warding off thoughts of death with obsessive housework. Solly is confronting her own buried femininity in the person of her Italian lodger. Maisie despairs at the inevitability with which beauty is destroyed. And Christine’s troubled, hilarious spirit presides over Arlington Park and the way of life it represents.
Reviewed by Andover Library Reading Group:
This book stimulated a lot of discussion as everyone had some experience in family life. Mixed reception of reading the book, some liked it; many found the lack of story line unhelpful.
Star rating: **
Review by Denmead Reading Group:
Utterly uninteresting muddled writing, no humour, ‘verbal navel gazing’. Characters unlikeable. Only second book in five years to be voted nil by the whole group. A waste of reading time.
Star rating: 0
Review by Wallington Village
Didn’t enjoy it; the ending couldn’t come fast enough. The characters weren’t fleshed out; not much depth. Good vocabulary. All the characters were aspects of the same woman.
Star rating none given
Despite Rachel Cusk being an award winning writer this book was not enjoyed by the group. Most thought it over written although I enjoyed her style of writing. The subject matter irritated. A feminist writer who seems to believe that married women are oppressed by their husbands and seemingly have no control over their own lives.
These affluent mainly stay at home mothers are not a great advertisement for modern women.