I've read about half of this thread And I'm probably too late and nobody will ever read my entry but I coudln't let this go: Firstly, if the book were really so rubbish, would it generate such a lively debate?
Secondly, I can't help but think that olive oil totally misses the point. Cusk clearly feels real ambivalence towards these souless bourgeois women, who've sacrificed so much of themselves, their dreams, in order to maintain the superficial status quo; and who've staked their happiness on material goods, smart houses, big safe cars and mixing with people who think exactly like they do.
This is social satire as its most seering. Cusk is, in my view, one of our most important chroniclers of modern life, one of the few women writers interested in writing an often unpalatable version of the truth. Of course, her technique - apparent both in her hysterical figurative language and her almost surgically precise use of imagery - but also in her grotesque character creatiions - is to emphasise and exaggerate. But I recognise this world, this middle class enclave: white, scared, gated, monied. And these are the objects of Cusk's satire.
Rachel Cusk's personal choices are entirely irrelevant to her work. Also, how are you supposed to write a novel unless you have childcare?
Those of you who didn't like A Life's Work because it didn't reflect your exact experience of childhood, what are you doing on this site? Do you think the squillion mumsnet users are all enjoying early motherhood? Are you going to go and slag off those posters who are having a terrible time and writing about it. Cusk has a gift of eloquence beyond the normal: thank GOD she wrote that book which I know has actually stopped people going mad who've had a baby and found themselves lost, miserable. Credit to her for making it so funny. That book is hilarious. So many people on this thread obviously have no sense of humour.
Olive oil - the richard & judy list awaits you, with its balmy mix of sentimentality and melodrama - conjoined twins, murders, fake histories, far flung countries where magical exotic dramas take place. The shops are full of books for you. I prefer my fiction to try to show me the truth about my life, the world I'm living in and to help me along the thorny, morally ambiguous path towards trying to be a 'good enough mother'.