“In person she was very small and the house [she lived in] was like a big doll’s house, with her as the doll inside it,” we read early on. So even when this actress is not in character she is confined to a role. 

RACHEL CUSK’s books, whether fiction, non-fiction or autofiction, are short and stylistically spare. But they invariably pack a punch. At 192 pages, Life of M attests to that compelling combination of leanness and power. Indeed, even before it was published, the book had achieved a certain impact, amid online reports that Cusk’s newest protagonist, “M”, “a film star, and one of the most recognisable faces of our time”, is based on actress Natalie Portman, for years the face of a Dior perfume and a known fan of the author.

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