Parade: A Novel

Parade by Rachel Cusk, winner of the Goldsmiths Prize and named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New Yorker and Vulture, is a bold, experimental novel that redefines the boundaries of fiction and storytelling.

The book revolves around G, an artist whose life—and art—exist in constant transformation. Midway through his life, G begins painting upside down, a symbolic act that alters not only his perspective but his relationships. When he paints his wife upside down—and even makes her appear ugly—these unsettling works become wildly successful, raising questions about art, perception, and truth.

The novel unfolds through a series of interconnected narratives and shifting perspectives:

• In one, a woman in Paris is attacked by a stranger who pauses afterward to observe her, like an artist assessing his work.

• In another, a young female painter named G escapes her parents’ disapproval only to face criticism from her husband, echoing the constraints of gender and artistic freedom.

• In yet another, the death of a mother forces her children to reckon with her emotional legacy—the stories she told, the roles she imposed, and the liberation found in her absence.

Through these fragmented yet thematically intertwined stories, Cusk dismantles traditional notions of plot, character, and identity, presenting a fluid exploration of art, creation, and selfhood.

With Parade, Rachel Cusk offers an intellectually daring and deeply introspective meditation on the act of seeing—how we look at art, each other, and ourselves—and how perspective itself can both reveal and distort truth.