In LIFE OF M, an unnamed narrator embarks on a literary pastiche of a famous actress, "M," relying on imagination and invention to fill in the gaps between perception and knowing.
Rumors are swirling prior to publication that LIFE OF M is a "dark portrait" of actress Natalie Portman. It's not dark as much as nuanced, a clear-eyed, crystalline likeness of a renowned actress who is as flawed as anyone yet must always uphold a vision of perfection.
Rachel Cusk, as ever, pairs unfussy language and an acumen for the everyday with blistering insight. We are reminded that "the novel" is always a vehicle of invention; characters, however true to life, are a device for telling a story. As Emily Dickinson wrote, "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." Is this the true story of Natalie Portman? No. This is a story about public and private life, what it means to live in the world being "known" and terribly unknown.
As the reader of LIFE OF M, we are aligned with the narrator; we are an essential part of the creation of "M." Without us, there would be no fame, no celebrity. The narrator's gaze, our gaze, is necessary to breathe life into this infamous woman on the page. Even when we are invited in to view pieces of her identity, to witness a very few banal experiences of her life, to see how her private persona is always ever public, we are inevitably left with a mirage. Can an actress not also play a part in a novel as she does on the screen?
Life of M begs the question: how well can we ever know anyone?
With our insatiable appetite for gossip and celebrity culture...how well do we know ourselves?