Books like The Bradshaw Variations

I enjoyed this dark, unusually structured novel, thought it partly stands out in its relationship to Cusk's OUTLINE trilogy. This is the last novel she wrote before that unique, sparse, thinly plotted triptych, and it is fascinating to see what is Cuskian (a keen eye, a disillusioned women, complex sexual dynamics over dinner, cruelty to dogs) and what isn't. What isn't hurts this book in some ways.Because the melodrama is high in the Bradshaw family, and the Outline trilogy is the least dramatic book I've read. The ending of this novel has a pairing of brutal, plotted shocks that crossed over into inadvertent (I think) humor in their over-the-top-ness. I enjoyed the novel before its violences, and was struck by how well Cusk manages time shifts and jumping from character to character. The lead, Thomas, is an especially strong creation. There is occasional, intentional plot disorientation that was interestingly unnecessary, caused by not identifying characters at the beginning of chapters. I don't know why she did this, but I enjoyed it all the same. I would not read this book before OUTLINE, but it is a fascinating example of Cusk's powers, and equally strong evidence that she made a canny decision in stripping out the weakest points of her fiction.