Saving Agnes

WINNER OF THE WHITBREAD FIRST NOVEL AWARD 'A writer with a poet's eye for convincing detail.' Sunday Telegraph 'A funny, knowing tale of middle-class, middle-twenties angst ... Cool, resonant, and accomplished.' Independent 'Told with irony and insight and some surreally beautiful imagery. At times it made me laugh out loud.' Sheila MacKay Agnes Day subeditor, suburbanite, failure extraordinaire has discovered disconcerting gaps in her general understanding of the world. Terminally middleclass and incurably romantic, Agnes finds herself chronically confused by the most basic interactions. Life and love go on without her, but with a little fa ade she can pass herself off as a success. Beneath the fiction, however, the burden of truth becomes harder to bear.

Rachel Cusk is the author of Second Place (Prix Femina étranger), the Outline trilogy, the memoirs A Life's Work and Aftermath, and several other works of fiction and nonfiction, including her most recent novel Parade (Goldsmiths Prize, 2024). She is a Guggenheim Fellow, the recipient of the 2024 Malaparte Prize, and has been awarded the title of Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres. She lives in Paris.

A new paperback edition of Rachel Cusk's debut novel, winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award.