The Lucky Ones - by Rachel Cusk (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"A small masterwork, a bright gem that illuminates the extent of Rachel Cusk's considerable abilities." -- Salon

"So sharply written I forgot where I was as I was reading it . . . touches greatness in its psychological incisiveness . . . . Cusk has brought her writing to a new level." --New York Times Book Review

Demonstrating a rare gift for illuminating "the bustling concourses of life" without sacrificing emotional depth and complexity, this rare and stunning novel confirms Rachel Cusk's place among our most incisive and masterful writers.

The Lucky Ones is a profound evocation of family and the magnetic bonds that can attract or repel. The five people whose lives converge here are also haunted by family: the longing for love, the struggle to connect. Here, a young pregnant mother wrestles with an utterly changed life; a new father sifts for a sign of the man he used to be; a daughter searches for a lost childhood; and a mother reaches out in bewilderment to a child who is growing away from her.

From the Back Cover

A young pregnant mother wrestles with an utterly changed life; a new father searches for a sign of the man he used to be; a daughter yearns for a lost childhood; and a mother reaches out in bewilderment to a child she can't fully understand. A rare novel that illuminates "the bustling concourses of life" without sacrificing emotional depth and complexity, The Lucky Ones confirms Rachel Cusk's place among our most incisive writers.

Review Quotes

"If great fiction puts into words something about ourselves that we didn't know we knew, this is it." - Daily Mail (London)

"Absolutely brilliant and deeply moving. . . Cusk weaves her tapestry ever-tighter toward a climax that will send readers back to the earlier sections to marvel at the subtle artistry that has planted throughout seeds that bear full fruit only at the end." - Kirkus (starred review)

"Such is [Cusk's] gift for capturing women's psychology and their sense of their place in the world. . . a fresh and compassionate portrait of a generation's feelings about motherhood." - The New Yorker

"So sharply written I forgot where I was as I was reading it . . . touches greatness in its psychological incisiveness . . . . Cusk has brought her writing to a new level." - New York Times Book Review

"You want to gasp with the shock of recognition at a rarely articulated thought delivered with a visceral punch." - Independent

"Witty, trenchant and. . . startling." - Library Journal

"In a series of closely linked stories, The Lucky Ones alights on a handful of vastly different characters, all of them struggling with the changing scope of their families." - Time Out New York

"Cusk is a writer of great psychological acuity, and her capacity for imagining her way into characters' minds is matched by her skill as a stylist. Artfully conceived and strongly executed, The Lucky Ones is a powerful and original work." - Los Angeles Times

"Cusk has a gift for articulating fluid, unsettling emotions just beneath the surface of consciousness." - Entertainment Weekly

"Cusk goes deeply into her characters' heads and the precision of her observations is extraordinary. . . her intelligence and emotional honesty give a sense of having experienced, rather than read, this book." - People

"Insightful. . . perceptively drawn. . . poignant, evocative and meant to be savored." - Booklist

"Gorgeous, languorous writing." - Publishers Weekly

"[Cusk's] intelligence and emotional honesty give a sense of having experienced, rather than read, this book...extraordinary." - People

"The Lucky Ones is a small masterwork, a bright gem that illuminates the extent of Rachel Cusk's considerable abilities." - Salon