Second Place

A Novel

By: Rachel Cusk

Narrated by: Kate Fleetwood

A haunting fable of art, family, and fate from the author of the Outline trilogy.

A woman invites a famous artist to use her guesthouse in the remote coastal landscape where she lives with her family. Powerfully drawn to his paintings, she believes his vision might penetrate the mystery at the center of her life. But as a long, dry summer sets in, his provocative presence itself becomes an enigma—and disrupts the calm of her secluded household.

Second Place, Rachel Cusk’s electrifying new novel, is a study of female fate and male privilege, the geometries of human relationships, and the moral questions that animate our lives. It reminds us of art’s capacity to uplift—and to destroy.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Incredible!

Best audiobook I’ve ever listened to. The performance is electrifying and the prose, nourishment for the soul. Must listen!

Beautifully executed. Impressionism in words, philosophy in motion

I enjoyed “Second Place” though the only characters that rang true were M, the writer and L the artist. The others were shallow.

The philosophizing was annoying at times, insightful occasionally. I recommend it if only for the exquisite writing. Her picture of paras is Impressionism in English words,

It slows down a bit about 3/4 through but is worth preserving to the end. Don’t think it’ll win the Booker, but for a novel written in these troubled times of Brexit, climate crisis and Covid, it hits the mark though these tragedies are not directly alluded to..

Her best book to date…

If you love Rachel Cusk, as I do, you will rejoice in this book of hers. An intriguing and thoughtful story and the narration is outstanding.

Horrible narrator, boring story

The narrator when voicing other characters was like nails on a chalk board. The story was whiny and self indulgent.

The problem with Audible

Truly, I expected more from Kate Fleetwood and Audible. This is an annoying performance that brings into view the difficulties of narrating novels. The male voices are all mannered and unpleasant, as if life or novels gave out those cues. The unpleasant L speaks with a drawl, unless he’s using the more menacing croak of the villain in a film made for children. Little is left to the listener’s imagination, when the book itself wants to engage just that faculty.