Second Place (novel)

Second Place

First edition cover (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021)
Author	Rachel Cusk
Audio read by	Kate Fleetwood
Language	English
Publisher	Farrar, Straus & Giroux (US) Faber and Faber (UK)
Publication date	4 May 2021 (US) 6 May 2021 (UK)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback), e-book, audio
Pages	192 (US) 224 (UK)
ISBN	978-0-374-90778-5 (US first edition hardback) 978-0-571-36629-3 (UK first edition hardback)
OCLC	1182584680
Dewey Decimal	823/.914
LC Class	PR6053.U825 S43 2021

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

Premise

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

In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews wrote that Cusk's "brilliant prose and piercing insights convey a dark but compelling view of human nature." ^[4] 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." ^[5]

The novel was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, ^[6] a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, ^[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

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. "Second Place by Rachel Cusk". Kirkus Reviews . 27 January 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
5. "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.
6. Flood, Alison (26 July 2021). "Booker prize reveals globe-spanning longlist of 'engrossing stories'". The Guardian . Retrieved 4 October 2021.
7. "2021 National Book Critics Circle Award". National Book Critics Circle. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
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.