Stella Benson sets off for Hilltop, a tiny Sussex village housing a family that is somewhat larger than life. Why is she so reluctant to talk about her past?The Country Life, Rachel Cusk's third novel, is a rich and subtle story about embarrassment, awkwardness and being alone;

A SUNDAY TIMES TOP 100 NOVEL OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURYArlington Park is an ordinary English suburb. Over the course of a single day, the novel moves from one household to another, revealing its characters: Juliet, enraged at the victory of men over women in family life; Maisie, struggling to accept provincial life;

Aftermath chronicles this perilous journey as the author redefines herself as a single woman and creates a new version of family life for her daughters.

Winner of the Whitbread First Novel AwardAgnes Day - sub-editor, suburbanite, failure extraordinaire - has discovered disconcerting gaps in her general understanding of the world. Terminally middle-class and incurably romantic, Agnes finds herself chronically confused by the most basic interactions.

When eighteen-year-old Michael visits the Hanbury's remote family home he is captivated by their bohemian lifestyle. The chance to escape once more to his friend's country house comes as a welcome relief, until he discovers a family changed, and his own romantic notions of country life begin to disintegrate .