When books mirror real life

In Rachel Cusk’s ‘Kudos’, the narrator is on a plane and then at a book festival. Today I was on the DLR and then at a Business Expo.

The Expo was at the ExCel, located where the first few bits of ‘The Wicked Boy’ (which I read a while ago) take place.

This recognition - whether in action or in location - is called proximity and its aim is to make the reader feel closer to the text. It works perfectly on me. I wasn’t too invested in the Cusk novel until I realised how it mirrors my life too.