At the start of Life of M, the new novel by the British-Canadian writer Rachel Cusk, a writer asks a friend who is a famous actor if they can write their autobiography. The actor – the “M” of the title – agrees and then says: “Would you just make it up?” And so, rather than write a conventional account of M’s life and career, the author delivers a series of scenes seemingly aimed at revealing what it is to exist in the glare of celebrity and in a world cushioned by wealth.
M, who has been famous since childhood, is depicted as detached and artificial, a woman whose existence is filtered through the lens of how others see her. From a young age, she understands that “reality can be engineered”. Thus, her efforts to do normal things like take her children to school, walk her dogs or visit a cafe are just that: mechanical efforts at normality.
This 13th novel by Cusk arrives in a squall of conjecture and gossip surrounding the identity of M, who has been assumed by some to be Natalie Portman, with whom Cusk is acquainted (she has appeared on Natalie’s Book Club, the Instagram account where the actor flags her favourite books). It also raises questions about the ethics of this less-than-flattering character study, which can be filed under autofiction, a genre that murkily blends memoir and fiction.
