A painter starts producing upside down paintings; another painter assesses her body of work; a woman is attacked in the street; a mother dies and her children consider her legacy.

This was my first Cusk - I was so sure I’d love it that I was absolutely not prepared for the cold and clinical read it turned out to be. So I definitely did not love it, but I also didn’t hate it, because the thing is, Parade deals with fascinating topics - the concept of genius, the creation and consumption of art, motherhood - and Cusk’s observations are remarkably pointed and astute.

But they also lack emotion, such that I never quite managed to connect with the writing. With nothing to tether the stories, the whole book feels nebulous and slippery. There’s also a whiff of the pretentious about it at times.

An astute yet nebulous exploration of genius, art and motherhood.