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Hot Milk Hardcover – July 12, 2016
| Deborah Levy (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
Shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize, Hot Milk moves "gracefully among pathos, danger, and humor” (The New York Times).
I have been sleuthing my mother’s symptoms for as long as I can remember. If I see myself as an unwilling detective with a desire for justice, is her illness an unsolved crime? If so, who is the villain and who is the victim?
Sofia, a young anthropologist, has spent much of her life trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s unexplainable illness. She is frustrated with Rose and her constant complaints, but utterly relieved to be called to abandon her own disappointing fledgling adult life. She and her mother travel to the searing, arid coast of southern Spain to see a famous consultant--their very last chance--in the hope that he might cure her unpredictable limb paralysis.
But Dr. Gomez has strange methods that seem to have little to do with physical medicine, and as the treatment progresses, Sofia's mother's illness becomes increasingly baffling. Sofia's role as detective--tracking her mother's symptoms in an attempt to find the secret motivation for her pain--deepens as she discovers her own desires in this transient desert community.
Hot Milk is a profound exploration of the sting of sexuality, of unspoken female rage, of myth and modernity, the lure of hypochondria and big pharma, and, above all, the value of experimenting with life; of being curious, bewildered, and vitally alive to the world.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBloomsbury USA
- Publication dateJuly 12, 2016
- Dimensions5.82 x 0.79 x 8.65 inches
- ISBN-101620406691
- ISBN-13978-1620406694
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Gorgeous . . . What makes the book so good is Ms. Levy’s great imagination, the poetry of her language, her way of finding the wonder in the everyday, of saying a lot with a little, of moving gracefully among pathos, danger and humor and of providing a character as interesting and surprising as Sofia. It’s a pleasure to be inside Sofia’s insightful, questioning mind.” - The New York Times
“Levy has spun a web of violent beauty and poetical ennui . . . the book exerts a seductive, arcane power, rather like a deck of tarot cards, every page seething with lavish, cryptic innuendo.” - The New York Times Book Review
“In Levy’s evocative novel, dense with symbolism, a woman struggles against her hypochondriacal mother to achieve her own identity.” - The New York Times Book Review, “100 Notable Books of 2016”
“Against fertile seaside backdrops, Sofia, seeking a robust, global meaning for femininity and motherhood, becomes increasingly bold herself.” - The New Yorker
“Hot Milk is a complicated, gorgeous work.” - Marie Claire
“A powerful novel of the interior life, which Levy creates with a vividness that recalls Virginia Woolf . . . Transfixing.” - Erica Wagner, The Guardian
“The novel's eerie atmosphere and sibylline turns of phrase have made Hot Milk the bettor's favorite for this year's Man Booker Prize . . . Its moody spell and haunted imagery pull you in.” - Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“Exquisite prose . . . Hot Milk is perfectly crafted, a dream-narrative so mesmerising that reading it is to be under a spell. Reaching the end is like finding a piece of glass on the beach, shaped into a sphere by the sea, that can be held up and looked into like a glass-eye and kept, in secret, to be looked at again and again.” - Suzanne Joinson, The Independent
“Levy’s language is precise. The absurdities of her style seem scattershot at first, but yield a larger pattern: a commentary on debt and personal responsibility, family ties and independence.” - Washington Post
“Highbrow/Brilliant. [An] intensely interior but highly charged new novel about family, hypochondria, Spain, Greece, and all kinds of sex.” - New York Magazine, Approval Matrix
“Economical, fluid, evocative of sex and mythology . . . . Young Sofia . . . drop[s] beautiful bombs of truth.” - New York Magazine’s Vulture blog
“A singular read . . . Levy has crafted a great character in Sofia, and witnessing a pivotal moment in her life is a pleasure.” - starred and boxed review, Publishers Weekly
“Scintillating, provocative . . . Levy combines intellect and empathy to impressively modern effect.” - starred review, Kirkus Reviews
“Kinship, gender, Medusas--this rich new novel from a highly regarded British writer dazzles and teases with its many connections while exposing the double-edged sword of mother-daughter love.” - Kirkus Reviews, “Best 2016 Fiction for Armchair Travel”
“Great lush writing [and] luxuriation in place. No writer infuses the landscape, urban or rural, with as much meaning and monstrosity as Levy . . . Unmissable.” - Eimear McBride, The New Statesman
“A beguiling tale of myths and identity . . . provocative . . . The difficult, ambivalent, precious mother-daughter relationship forms the core of this beautiful, clever novel.” - Michele Roberts, The Independent
“Among the questions posed in this heady new novel: Is Sofia’s mother, Rose, sick or a hypochondriac who’s feverish for attention? And more important, can the frustrated Sofia break the chains of familial devotion and live for herself?” - O, the Oprah Magazine
“Deborah Levy’s intoxicating and beautifully crafted novel, a worthy finalist for the Man Booker Prize, digs deep in its exploration of female sexuality, strained family bonds and hypochondria.” - Minneapolis Star Tribune, “50 Best Books for Holiday Giving”
“The author of the elusive, powerful novel Swimming Home has another tale of family dysfunction. In the unforgiving heat of southern Spain, wayward anthropologist Sofia Papastergiadis delivers her mother into the hands of an eccentric doctor whom they hope can diagnose the mysterious illness that has taken over her body.” - Elle.com, “11 of the Best Books to Read in July”
“A fascinating book about sexuality, anger, medicine, and the drive to stay alive, Hot Milk is a unique novel that reads like a lucid dream.” - Bustle, "12 Travel Books That Will Transport You This Summer”
"An unsettling, poetic novel." - The Atlantic, “The Best Books We Read in 2016”
“Mesmerizing . . . evocative and complex.” - Booklist
“A terrific tale of mothers and daughters and fathers and daughters and confusion and old age, sickness, woe . . . and finding love tucked away in strange places.” - R.A.L.P.H. Magazine
“Dazzling and, at times, deeply disturbing, Hot Milk is a mystery meets introspective coming-of-age novel. It's unnerving--and that's a good thing.” - Refinery 29, “20 Books Perfect For Your Summer Vacay”
“The Man Booker short-listed Levy . . . draws in readers with beautiful language and unexpected moments of humor and shock.” - Library Journal
“A captivating demonstration of why Levy is one of the few necessary novelists writing in Britain today. This is the poetry and playfulness of her prose . . . More important, Levy grapples with and presents the complex psychology and multiple facets of her female characters like few others, which makes the recent reappraisal of her life’s work all the more welcome.” - The Forward
“Levy's reputation as a singularly talented writer is on display throughout this novel, and this is most obvious at the basic level of the sentence. Her prose is lean and taut, poetic and rich with symbolism; each sentence shaped with care with nary a redundant word.” - PopMatters
“Hot Milk is a purposeful work of how someone might find sustenance.” - Daily Kos
“A fraught, intense bond between mother and daughter is poetically rendered in Hot Milk, Deborah Levy’s follow-up to the 2012 Man Booker short-listed Swimming Home.” - San Diego Magazine, “5 Books to Read in July”
“Acutely relevant . . . A triumph of technically adroit storytelling. Levy’s elegant and poised prose has the rare quality of being simultaneously expansive and succinct . . . A breath of fresh air.” - The Literary Review
“A superbly crafted novel that is an inherently fascinating and consistently compelling read from beginning to end, Hot Milk clearly reveals author Deborah Levy as an exceptionally gifted storyteller.” - Midwest Book Review
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Bloomsbury USA; 1st Edition (July 12, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1620406691
- ISBN-13 : 978-1620406694
- Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.82 x 0.79 x 8.65 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #552,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,661 in Coming of Age Fiction (Books)
- #9,705 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
- #24,043 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Deborah Levy writes fiction, plays, and poetry. Her work has been staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and she is the author of highly praised books including The Unloved, Swallowing Geography, and Beautiful Mutants. Her novel Swimming Home was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, 2012 Specsavers National Book awards, and 2013 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize. Her recent short story collection, Black Vodka, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Things I Don’t Want to Know is the title of Levy’s sparkling response to George Orwell’s essay ‘Why I Write’, an autobiographical essay on writing, gender politics and philosophy. Her collection of poetry, An Amorous Discourse in The Suburbs of Hell, was inspired by William Blake’s vision of angels perched in a tree on Peckham Common.
Customer reviews
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Sofia, a young anthropologist, has spent much of her life trying to solve the mystery of her mother’s unexplainable illness. She is frustrated with Rose and her constant complaints, but utterly relieved to be called to abandon her own disappointing fledgling adult life. She and her mother travel to the searing, arid coast of southern Spain to see a famous consultant–their very last chance–in the hope that he might cure her unpredictable limb paralysis.
But Dr. Gomez has strange methods that seem to have little to do with physical medicine, and as the treatment progresses, Sofia’s mother’s illness becomes increasingly baffling. Sofia’s role as detective–tracking her mother’s symptoms in an attempt to find the secret motivation for her pain–deepens as she discovers her own desires in this transient desert community.
MY THOUGHTS:
Sofia’s meandering ruminations lead us through Hot Milk , and sometimes we can flow along with her, and at other times, her ramblings are annoying and boring.
At the heart of the story, however, is the conflicted relationship between Sofia and her mother Rose. Does Sofia seem too enmeshed with Rose? Does she feel guilty because Rose was left by Sofia’s father? What is the meaning of Rose’s strange symptoms that seem intermittent and almost imaginary?
Then we realize that, with Rose at this new clinic in Spain, Sofia has an opportunity to go out on her own a bit and explore some of her hidden desires. She meets a strange young woman named Ingrid. Why does the somewhat pushy Ingrid fascinate Sofia so much? The fact of her aggressive behaviors that push and pull at Sofia take us through their “relationship,” and arouse some questions in Sofia about identity and desire.
I liked this excerpt:
“Am I self-destructive, or pathetically passive or reckless or just experimental, or am I a rigorous cultural anthropologist, or am I in love?”
Reconnecting with her father in Greece turns into an unsatisfactory few days, after which Sofia must now return to Spain and her mother…and look at what is left in her life. Will her mother’s condition find a diagnosis? Will Sofia be able to plan her own life, free of her mother’s control? 4 stars.
Sofia is a young anthropology student who has spent her life taking care of her mother, Rose, who suffers from a mysterious and unexplainable illness that's arguably psychosomatic. The two of them move to a hot coastal community in Spain where Rose can attend a local clinic run by a peculiar doctor who may be her last hope.
Throughout her life Sofia has struggled to forge an identity for herself, inextricably linked to her mother in an unhealthy bond, to the point where Sofia even begins to mirror some of Rose's symptoms. But while her mother is under the care of this new doctor, Sofia has the opportunity to detach and become her own person.
What follows is a complex, provocative, unusual story about desire, sexuality and identity, as Sofia toes the fine line between independence and familial responsibility. Hot Milk is a dysfunctional family novel unlike any other. The prose is at once taut and mesmerizing, wry and powerful -- the kind that demands to be savored. This was my first time reading Deborah Levy, and it certainly won't be my last.
Top reviews from other countries
"I am overflowing like coffee leaking from a paper cup. I wonder, shall I make myself smaller? Do I have enough space on Earth to make myself less?"
I have read Deborah Levy before, but this is by far my favourite of hers. In the past, I felt her playwright bent would sometimes dictate how she told a story as if she was visualizing it in a staging sort of way. In this novel, the characters have rich and complicated internal lives. The way she writes them had traces of Jeanette Winterson in her earlier works, the always thinking and feeling characters where the plot is secondary. And I mean that as a compliment, since Winterson remains in my top three authors and likely always will. So the style, the narrative, shall we say, really worked for me. The reader is left faced with either filling in the gaps or discovering that "what happens" isn't the point so much as the transformative journey of the inner lives.
"I am pulsating with shifting sexualities.
I am sex on tanned legs in suede platform sandals.
I am urban and educated and currently godless."
Other elements that made me enjoy this novel are the character having a background of anthropology (female anthropologists being a notable trend in several of my favourite reads.) There is something about the approach of anthropology, how it notices, how it attempts to gain an inside perspective, that makes it really work in internal dialogue.
"If anthropology is the study of humankind from its beginning millions of years ago to this day, I am not very good at studying myself. I have researched aboriginal culture, Mayan hieroglyphics and the corporate culture of a Japanese car manufacturer, and I have written essays on the internal logic of various other societies, but I haven't a clue about my own logic. Suddenly that was the best thing that ever happened to me."
I should also mention the impact of the limited landscape of an unpleasant Spanish coastal town (where jellyfish fill the water and factories and concrete line the shore) and the element of an adult child dealing with the real or imagined illness of a parent. She captures the strangeness of a mother who demands attention, even from her child.
"Her symptoms do all the talking for her. They chatter all the time."
"I told her the beach was desolate and that I had been staring for two hours of a pile of gas canisters. It was my special skill to make my day smaller so as to make her day bigger."
It starts well and gets better. Then it loses focus and ends badly. There is a shock at the very end which ties it together somewhat but for the reader, it is too late. There are also surreal elements in the story as I read it. Were they meant to be surreal, though, or was it misguided writing? There is sex, written with discretion. There is violence that is well-described; again, this may have deeper meaning.
It is written in the first person. The narrator is a woman in her twenties. She is totally believable. The main character, though, is her mother, who is not at all believable. Mother and daughter are in Spain for a reason, which, if not bizarre, certainly stretches credulity. The young woman’s sexual partners add depth to the story and the consultant is a minor triumph. The episode in Athens where Sofia meets her father and his family is telling, especially when he give her a gift.
The heat, the detritus, the noise, of the Spanish coast is brilliantly done.
Would I recommend the book to, say, my wife? No, or only with a lot of reservations. To my feminist daughter? Yes, with fewer reservations.
To the general reader? With respect, probably not.
Later today I shall listen to it being discussed on BBC World Book Club, with the author.







