Transit — Rachel Cusk

A Guardian, New Statesman, Spectator and Observer Book of the Year. Shortlisted for the Goldsmith's Prize.

'A work of stunning beauty, deep insight and great originality.' - Monica Ali, New York Times

'Tremendous from its opening sentence.' - Tessa Hadley, Guardian

'A work of cut-glass brilliance.' - Financial Times

In the wake of her family's collapse, a writer and her two young sons move to London. The upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions - personal, moral, artistic, and practical - as she endeavours to construct a new reality for herself and her children. In the city, she is made to confront aspects of living that she has, until now, avoided, and to consider questions of vulnerability and power, death and renewal, in what becomes her struggle to reattach herself to, and believe in, life.

Filtered through the impersonal gaze of its keenly intelligent protagonist, Transit sees Rachel Cusk delve deeper into the themes first raised in her critically acclaimed novel Outline, and offers up a penetrating and moving reflection on childhood and fate, the value of suffering, the moral problems of personal responsibility and the mystery of change.