The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Cusk, Rachel. Parade. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024.

Rachel Cusk's novel Parade defies novelistic conventions. It is divided into four sections, each of which follows its own rules and traces a distinct storyline. The novel does not elapse linearly, uses the past and present tenses, and is written from the first and third person points of view. For the sake of clarity, the following summary employs the present tense and a streamlined mode of explanation.

In "The Stuntman," a male artist named G feels discouraged with his work. He is still angry about the negative reviews of his early work, and feels desperate to prove himself in the art world. Therefore, he starts to paint upside down. His wife is shocked by the new canvasses, because they seem to capture something inarticulable about being a woman. Over time, G starts to receive attention for the upside-down works. Even still, he remains dissatisfied and unhappy. He starts to paint nude portraits of his wife, and these paintings do well. Meanwhile, G's father is dying. While he and his wife are visiting him, G wonders if he should forgive his father for everything he did and said to him over the years. However, he cannot confront his father's abuse in himself, and therefore does not say anything to his father.

A first person narrator and her partner travel to an unfamiliar city. They sublet a woman's apartment, which the narrator gradually grows attached to. When the lady wants to move back into the apartment, she kicks the narrator and her partner out. The narrator feels unmoored thereafter. She and her partner move from place to place, and each space makes her increasingly unsettled. Then one day, a woman attacks the narrator on the street while she is out for a walk. From her position on the ground, the narrator looks up and notices how proud her assailant seems. She cannot stop thinking about the woman over the course of the subsequent weeks, and starts to regard her as an artist in her own right.

In "The Midwife," G feels frustrated with herself for having given up her free and wild lifestyle. She is living in a wealthy neighborhood with her husband and daughter, and has not made the sort of work she has been proud of in some time. She still has her studio in the city, where she continues to paint when she is alone. When she was 22, she moved away from home and rented the studio, where she lived and worked. She was proud of the work she made at this time, too.

When G's husband goes away to visit his dying father, G tries to reconnect with her daughter. She and her daughter become good friends. However, when the husband returns, he is jealous of their relationship and tells G that she can leave the family, but he is keeping their daughter and the house.

A first person narrator and her partner travel to Mann's farm in the country whenever they want to get away. They rent a small cottage while here, and often spend time chatting and visiting with Mann's wife. The more times they visit, the more they learn about Mann and his wife's marital struggles.

In "The Diver," the museum director is frustrated when a man jumps to his death in the middle of her exhibition on the artist G. After the man dies by suicide, the director is forced to evacuate the museum and close the exhibit. In the wake of the incident, the director, G's biographer Betsy, and their other artistic acquaintances Mauro, Julia, David, and Thomas convene at a local restaurant. They spend the evening drinking wine, eating food, and talking about art and life. The man's death by suicide is a particularly pertinent facet of their discussion, as they feel frustrated that he ruined all of their hard work on the G exhibition and conference. They also discuss their personal lives and relationships.

In "The Spy," G starts his artistic career as a writer. He gets his novel published, but it is not well-received. He then tries to write short stories, but his editor does not like his new style. Finally, G decides to start making movies. He decides that all of his films will be unscripted, use unknown actors, and be shot outside in the natural light. G receives much criticism for the work, but people often remark on G's ability to capture complex themes without a script.

A first person plural narrator struggles to reconcile with their mother's death. The siblings have always had a fraught relationship with their mother. However, once she is gone they feel as if life has no meaning. They make countless attempts to return to their normal lives in the wake of her funeral. Over time, they realize that they are now carrying their mother inside of them.