Synopsis
Set over the course of one rainy day in a London suburb, Arlington Park is a viciously funny portrait of a group of young mothers, each bound to their families, each straining for some kind of independence. As the hours pass, Rachel Cusk's graceful, incisive prose passes through the experience of each mother, following them all from the early-morning scrambling, through car trips and visits to the mall, and finally to a dinner party in the evening, when the husbands return and all the conflicts come to the surface. Penetrating and empathetic, Arlington Park is "a domestic adventure about the perils of modern privilege that is as smartly satirical as it is warmly wise" (Elle).
The New York Times - Lucy Ellmann
Arlington Park is the kind of book that makes you burn things on the stove and berate your husband. Cusk is good at identifying what she fears and reviles. The challenge would be to say what she cares about, even if it makes her sound silly. Dignity isn t everything. Honesty is.