Rachel Cusk's new novel: About Natalie Portman, or about fame?

Rachel Cusk's latest novel, "Life of M," has generated buzz with the perception that it centers on her friendship with actress Natalie Portman. However, according to DN's Martin Gelin, the book is a poignant exploration of childhood and fame, rather than a direct exposé.

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The joke among the city's inhabitants is that the best place in the city is at the top of the skyscraper, because that is the only place where you don't have to see it.

Cusk employs a narrative strategy, likened to the "Tour Montparnasse" skyscraper in Paris, where the narrator remains detached, allowing readers to infer personality through interactions. This mirrors the structure of her acclaimed "Outline" trilogy. The novel contrasts the narrator's relative literary fame with that of a much more famous film star, whose attributes align with Portman, a Paris-based friend of Cusk's. This has fueled speculation and "literary scandal" in the gossip press, though critics maintain it is fiction.

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The global gossip press is celebrating this 'literary scandal' – surely Cusk's publisher too.

The novel is set in an anonymized Paris, a deliberate choice by Cusk to avoid cliché, a technique also used by Ayşegül Savaş. Cusk incorporates scenes from her public life, including a subtle satire of a literary salon hosted by Chanel, featuring figures like Naomi Campbell and Charlotte Casiraghi. Gelin contrasts this with Simone de Beauvoir's "The Mandarins," questioning the evolution of fiction since then. "Life of M" continues Cusk's restless experimentation with narrative form.

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In 'Life of M,' Cusk continues her restless attempts to renew fiction.