Second Place is a 2021 novel by Rachel Cusk.[1][2]

Second Place
First edition cover (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021)
AuthorRachel Cusk
Audio read byKate Fleetwood
LanguageEnglish
PublisherFarrar, Straus & Giroux (US)
Faber and Faber (UK)
Publication date
4 May 2021 (US)
6 May 2021 (UK)
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback), e-book, audio
Pages192 (US)
224 (UK)
ISBN978-0-374-90778-5
(US first edition hardback)
978-0-571-36629-3
(UK first edition hardback)
OCLC1182584680
823/.914
LC ClassPR6053.U825 S43 2021

Premise

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A female narrator, M, invites a famous painter, L, to use her guesthouse on the English coast marshlands where she lives with her family. It is inspired by Mabel Dodge Luhan's 1932 memoir Lorenzo in Taos, about the writer D. H. Lawrence's early 1920s sojourn in Taos, New Mexico.[3]

Reception

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Second Place received favourable reviews, with a cumulative "Positive" rating at the review aggregator website Book Marks, based on 42 book reviews from mainstream literary critics.[4] In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews wrote that Cusk's "brilliant prose and piercing insights convey a dark but compelling view of human nature."[5] Publishers Weekly, in its starred review, wrote, "There is the erudition of the author's Outline trilogy here, but with a tightly contained dramatic narrative."[6]

The novel was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize,[7] and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2021 Governor General's Awards.[8] Blandine Longre's French translation was awarded the 2022 Prix Femina étranger.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Second Place". Macmillan. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Second Place". Faber and Faber. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  3. ^ Levin, Ann (3 May 2021). "Review: Latest Rachel Cusk novel honors Mabel Dodge Luhan". Associated Press. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Book Marks reviews of Second Place by Rachel Cusk". Book Marks. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Second Place by Rachel Cusk". Kirkus Reviews. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Fiction Book Review: Second Place by Rachel Cusk. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $25 (180p) ISBN 978-0-374-90778-5". Publishers Weekly. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  7. ^ Flood, Alison (26 July 2021). "Booker prize reveals globe-spanning longlist of 'engrossing stories'". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Ivan Coyote, David A. Robertson & Julie Flett among finalists for $25K Governor General's Literary Awards". CBC Books, October 14, 2021.
  9. ^ Dupuy, Éric (7 November 2022). "Claudie Hunzinger, Rachel Cusk et Annette Wieviorka primées au Femina 2022". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 8 November 2022.