A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk

Rachel Cusk shares the horror and overwhelm of a new mother at sea in her new life.

The shock of motherhood

A Life’s Work took me on a wild-toad-ride in time: back to the sleeplessness, the crying, the uncontrollable milk, all those nappies, all those wet wipes, more and more wet wipes, the sliding of my pinkie into my daughter’s mouth to detach myself, and the invisible string between us. I was so tired I forgot words. My conversation was shot with embarrassing holes.

I found A Life’s Work funny and relatable, especially the first half with its laugh-aloud lines.

It’s a raw book, though. Cusk was lonely and unprepared and exhausted. She was mourning her past, and uncertain of her future. She shows us her doubts and fears and jealousies and joys. It’s a brave memoir, and all the more interesting for being unsentimental.

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