Outline is a novel by

Rachel Cusk Rachel Cusk (born 8 February 1967) is a British novelist and writer. Childhood and education Cusk was born in Saskatoon to British parents in 1967, the second of four children with an older sister and two younger brothers, and spent much of h ...

, the first in a trilogy known as ''The Outline trilogy'', which also contains the novels ''Transit'' and ''Kudos''. It was chosen by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critics as one of the 15 remarkable books by women that are "shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century." The ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' has called the novel "autobiographical fiction."

Plot

An English woman writer flies to Athens to teach a summer writing workshop. On the plane, she meets an older Greek bachelor who tells her about his two failed marriages. The next day she meets with an Irish colleague from the writing school who also tells her his life story. In every chapter, the writer meets people and engages in long conversations on topics such as love, fiction, marriage, and intimacy.

Reception

''Outline'' was named one of ''

'' Top Ten books of 2015. It made the 2014 shortlist of the

Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of ...

, the 2015 shortlist of the

Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

, and the 2015 shortlist of the Bailey Women's Prize for Fiction. ''Outline'' was voted the 34th best book since 2000 by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

References

{{reflist 2014 British novels Novels set in Athens Novels by Rachel Cusk Faber and Faber books