The Bradshaw Variations

I enjoyed this dark, unusually structured novel, thought it partly stands out in its relationship to Cusk's OUTLINE trilogy. This is the last novel she wrote before that unique, sparse, thinly plotted triptych, and it is fascinating to see what is Cuskian (a keen eye, a disillusioned women, complex......more

Moving backward through Cusk’s oeuvre I come to this novel featuring flawed suburbanites—couples whom Cusk, in the end, treats gingerly. There is no need to be cruel since we all suffer from some sort of imaginative lapse, whether or not be can recognize our own among those described here. One chara......more

My favorite Rachel Cusk so far of the three I’ve read. I loved the tone and the writing here, the rhythms of the language, the imagery, the unique and innovative metaphors, the way Cusk puts together sentences and makes connections between ideas in the most unusual and original ways. The narrative is......more

Apparently some people deem Rachel Rusk too clever in her books. I get that, somewhat, in her past work, like In the Fold. In that one she brandishes here cleverness with long sentences and very, very long conversations. Here, in her new work, she has tempered such lengthiness, somewhat. Sentences a......more

I enjoyed "The Bradshaw Variations" but somehow it doesn't hit the spot, because the characters don't have enough space to develop properly. There are so many different voices and viewpoints from the wider Bradshaw family that it's hard to focus on the central narrative of Thomas Bradshaw and his wi......more