Is Rachel Cusk’s new novel a ruthless betrayal of Natalie Portman?

August 18, 2026 — 1:30pm

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We all love a juicy literary scandal, and there have been plenty of them recently involving memoirs. But the latest concerns a famous novelist and an even more famous movie star.

Rachel Cusk’s new novel, M, is about an actress whose beautiful face is everywhere. She is observed by an author, something of a friend, who has her permission to write about her. What emerges is a portrait of a woman who lives a luxurious yet unreal life, seems unreal to herself, and tries to make connections that might enable her to become a human being.

Even before the book’s release (September 1, in Australia), rumours were flying around Hollywood that the mysterious M was none other than Natalie Portman, reportedly a friend of Cusk’s and a fan of her writing: she promoted Cusk’s novel Parade on her Instagram book club and talked to her online about her novel Second Place. They both live in Paris.

Many pointers lead to Portman. One is that the actress M began her career as a child and some explicit sexual scenes in her first film were cut at........

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