Rachel Cusk’s New Novel Sparks Claim It Uses Natalie Portman as a Model, Columnist Says

Rachel Cusk’s next novel has drawn fresh attention after Unherd columnist Valerie Stivers suggested the work, titled Life of M, may be a dark portrait drawn from Natalie Portman’s public life. The claim, reported by The Hollywood Reporter, centers on how Stivers reads Cusk’s characterizations as reflecting the contours of the Hollywood star’s experiences.

The debate is rooted in the way the novel is described and discussed in public-facing coverage. According to the report, Stivers argues that Life of M does not merely echo broad themes of celebrity and personal reinvention, but instead “mines” Portman’s life for a recognizable, if indirect, likeness.

Cusk and her work have previously been associated with fiction that draws heavily from observation and cultural atmosphere. In this case, the controversy involves whether that approach amounts to storytelling that uses a real-world figure as material. Stivers’ reading, as framed in the column, is that the resulting portrait is intentionally shadowed and deliberately constructed to resemble a specific public person rather than a purely invented character.

Portman’s status as an Oscar-winning actor has given the claim additional traction, since her biography and high-profile career are widely documented and frequently referenced in entertainment media. Stivers’ framing, as characterized by The Hollywood Reporter, relies on the idea that the novel’s narrative features align closely enough with Portman’s recognizable life to justify the “thinly-veiled” description.

The reporting underscores that the issue is being conducted at the level of interpretation, meaning the question depends on how readers and critics read the novel’s resemblance to a particular figure. The column’s argument does not change the book’s authorship, authors’ rights, or the basic expectation that fiction can be inspired by public themes and real-world settings, even when critics disagree about how closely a work maps to a named individual.

Still, when claims of this kind surface, they often raise practical questions for publishers and media outlets about how to describe new releases without overstating allegations. For readers, the controversy may also shape expectations ahead of any release date, promotional campaign, reviews, and interviews that typically accompany major literary publications.

At this stage, the public record reflected in the report is primarily the columnist’s characterization of the novel’s subject matter. Additional commentary, including responses from Cusk, Portman, publishers, or literary critics, would typically be expected to clarify whether the resemblance is considered coincidental, deliberately symbolic, or too close for comfort.