Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Hot Milk

by Deborah Levy

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2016
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2016

Plunge into this hypnotic tale of female sexuality and power - from the Man Booker shortlisted author of Swimming Home

Two women arrive in a village on the Spanish coast. Rose is suffering from a strange illness andher doctors are mystified. Her daughter Sofia has brought her here to find a cure with the infamous and controversial Dr Gomez - a man of questionable methods and motives. Intoxicated by thick heat and the seductive people who move through it, both women begin to see their lives clearly for the first time in years.

Through the opposing figures of mother and daughter, Deborah Levy explores the strange and monstrous nature of womanhood. Dreamlike and utterly compulsive, Hot Milk is a delirious fairy tale of feminine potency, a story both modern and timeless.

Reviewed by brokentune on

2 of 5 stars

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"Today I dropped my laptop on the concrete floor of a bar built on the beach. It was tucked under my arm and slid out of its black rubber sheath (designed like an envelope), landing screen side down. The digital page is now shattered but at least it still works. My laptop has all my life in it and knows more about me than anyone else.

So what I am saying is that if it is broken, so am I."
Got to 21%, then skim read to the end.

Hot Milk is another selection from this year's Booker long list. As I tried to get into the story, it struck me that Hot Milk reminded me of John Fowles' [b:The Magus|16286|The Magus|John Fowles|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1441323311s/16286.jpg|1816475]. Too much.

Hot Milk seems to equal The Magus in pretentiousness - the sort of writing that is littered with profound statements and mentions of classical characters that seem impressive but don't really carry much meaning.

"As he talked I could see his soft, pink lips pulsing like a medusa in the middle of his beard. He handed me a pencil stub and asked me to please fill in the form:

Name: Sofia Papastergiadis
Age: 25
Country of origin: UK
Occupation:

The jellyfish don't care about my occupation, so what is the point? It is a sore point, more painful than my sting and more of a problem than my surname which no one can say or spell."

The overall story - a daughter trying to care for her mother while she undergoes treatment for a mysterious illness in Spain - is intriguing but the mystery doesn't hold up.

In a way, it is interesting that Hot Milk and [b:Eileen|23453099|Eileen|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1423783612s/23453099.jpg|43014905] were both on the Booker long list this year because they strike some very similar chords in that the "mysterious" element of the book is created by the characters and their situation.

Both seem to be self-deprecating young women who are being manipulated by the people around them, most of all their parents.

So, it did make me wonder whether there was a particular trend this year or whether it just is that my current reading tastes are geared toward this kind of story (which is probably more likely).

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 3 September, 2016: Finished reading
  • 3 September, 2016: Reviewed