John Williams of The New York Times reports on newly released book titles and the world of publishing in "The Book Reader."

Though Rachel Cusk has had her share of success in the U.S., she is a star in Britain, where she lives, for her several novels and her revealing memoirs.

Her book “Aftermath,” a very honest account of her divorce, was fodder for newspapers and radio programs in England.

Cusk is back with a new novel called “Outline,” which differs from her previous work. She recently said in an interview that she now finds making up characters and scenarios for conventional fiction “fake and embarrassing.”

In “Outline,” a woman travels to Greece to teach writing, and recounts conversations she has along the way – with her seatmate on the plane, with students, with old friends. Nothing much in the way of traditional plot happens in “Outline.” It’s a book made up of observations and internal soliloquies, but of a very high order. In The New York Times Book Review, Heidi Julavits called the novel “lethally intelligent,” and it is, on nearly every page.

Cusk’s novel, published so early in the year, will likely be remembered by some critics when the Best of 2015 lists eventually roll around.