Arlington Park - Rachel Cusk

A beautifully-written account of a day in an English suburb, with echoes of "Mrs. Dalloway", told through the eyes of a group of women who are all struggling with petty resentments, disappointments and obsessions. I love the clarity of Cusk's writing - the initial section describing the rain sweeping over the city and into the suburb brought vivid images to my mind, which is very unusual for me. Like the other books of hers that I've read ("A Life's Work" & "The Lucky Ones"), this emphasises the frustrations of family life rather than the joys, but it portrays them believably, with some startling observations along the way, and room left for hope at the end.