Some good old-fashioned literary drama is just the thing for late summer. Pairs well with mint juleps and malaise, I think. This week, those of this opinion were darkly pleased to learn that Rachel Cusk’s new novel (Life of M) is apparently based on the life of real human actress Natalie Portman. And if our deep reads are correct, the Black Swan doesn’t love this.
To start from the top, with the tea. Cusk and Portman have been friendly for several years, and are apparently mutual fans. Portman selected Cusk’s novel Parade for her book club back in 2024, and there has been at least one warm public discussion between the actor and the novelist.
Life of M picks up on recent Cusk preoccupations, such as the instability of the self. But the new novel leans on some highly specific receipts.
As Valerie Strivers observed in a spelunk for UnHerd, the book is about a “famous actress, M, and a nameless writer-friend’s project to chronicle her.” And M and Portman share enough similarities to raise eyebrows.
How did sleuths connect the dots? Cusk’s fictional heroine is, “in addition to being a film star, the model for a major brand.” She lives in an unnamed European city. And she got her start as a child—specifically in a Lolita-like role in a European film that “immediately brought her childhood to an end,” in the narrator’s opinion.
