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Rachel Cusk Releases “Life of M” Amid Portman Backlash

8/21/2026

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Summary

Cusk Publishes Life

Novelist Rachel Cusk will publish the novel “Life of M” on Aug. 25.
The story follows an unnamed actress experiencing alienation and depersonalization.
Narration shifts from first-person singular to a plural “we,” blurring narrator and celebrity.
The opening chapters expand Cusk’s New Yorker short story “Project.”
Critics praise the novel’s technical skill and intelligence but describe its tone as detached.

Summary

Cusk Defends

UnHerd's July report labeled the novel a “literary assassination” of Portman, sparking a media firestorm.
The Telegraph repeated the claim, calling the book cruel.
The Telegraph accused Cusk of targeting the actress.
Cusk appeared on a video call, said the gossip distressed her and likened the debate to a courtroom.
A source close to Portman dismissed the resemblance as “risible,” saying parallels stop at her public biography.

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Cusk Publishes Life

Novelist Rachel Cusk will publish the novel “Life of M” on Aug. 25.
The story follows an unnamed actress experiencing alienation and depersonalization.
Narration shifts from first-person singular to a plural “we,” blurring narrator and celebrity.
The opening chapters expand Cusk’s New Yorker short story “Project.”
Critics praise the novel’s technical skill and intelligence but describe its tone as detached.

1 / 2