Rachel Cusk has spent years making motherhood, divorce, and the novel itself feel like things that require a stiff drink. The celebrated British-Canadian author first became notorious for brutally candid memoirs before reinventing the novel with the groundbreaking Outline trilogy, where a passive narrator lets other people talk their lives into existence. Natalie Portman, who is also a fan of Cusk, meanwhile, has built a very different kind of cultural ubiquity as one of Hollywood's most recognizable faces.

Yet fans now suspect those two seemingly separate worlds may have collided, with Cusk's newest novel, Life of M, seemingly hinting at Portman.

Yes, Rachel Cusk wrote Life of M with Natalie Portman as its unmistakable real-life inspiration, although the actress is disguised behind the single initial 'M.' The connection is hardly a literary Easter egg buried beneath several layers of symbolism. Portman has long been a vocal admirer of Cusk, even recommending the Outline trilogy and selecting Second Place and Parade for her book club.

The relationship, according to UnHerd, became more personal when the two women formed a friendship while living in Paris, with Portman ultimately giving Cusk permission to write a book involving her. Life of M then makes the resemblance rather difficult to ignore: its famous 'M' has been recognizable since childhood, becomes the face of a major brand, and sees its image displayed everywhere, much like Portman.

Along with UnHerd's revelation, there are a few other coincidences readers can not ignore. The novel even opens with Cusk's narrator telling the actor M that she wants to write her autobiography, only for M to suggest that Cusk simply make it up. The joke becomes considerably less funny when the fictional actress later feels betrayed by the finished book. According to reports, Portman reportedly felt much the same about the real novel.

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Although Natalie Portman has been an inspiration to many, such as Stranger Things' Gabriella Pizzolo, this is not the first time that Rachel Cusk has been inspired to write a character based on a real person.

Rachel Cusk has been writing about real people long before Hollywood entered the picture, although her subjects were usually family members, former partners, or unsuspecting fellow travellers rather than celebrities. Aftermath turned the collapse of her marriage into brutally personal literature, while A Life's Work provoked outrage over its unsparing account of early motherhood. Her travel memoir, The Last Supper, even led to a threatened libel lawsuit and the pulping of its first print run.

That history makes Cusk's work particularly complicated, because the people who recognize themselves in her books have not always appreciated the literary treatment. Critics attacked Aftermath as an unforgiving public airing of private pain, while The Last Supper demonstrated that an unflattering portrait can have consequences beyond a bad review. The difference this time is that the person reportedly sitting across from the author is not an ordinary acquaintance, but Natalie Portman.

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What do you think of Natalie Portman's portrayal in Rachel Cusk's Life of M? Let us know in the comments!