Some trends in publishing are obvious. Cats on covers sell books; so, apparently, do titles about killing various members of the family. Recently, though, we’ve come across a more surprising trend: there seem to be more and more books with the word “milk” in the title. What’s more, they’re actually all good, in quite different ways.
So we’ve pulled together our favourites… A milk round, if you will. And we’ve paired each book with the most appropriate milk:
Milk Teeth by Jessica Andrews
Jessica Andrews draws us into the mind of a young woman who never allows herself to have what she wants. A will-they-won’t-they of sorts that unfolds over the cobbled streets of sunny Barcelona. Andrews’s writing is effortless.
Pair with Whole milk. Like Andrews’s writing, it’s thick and luscious. A creamy treat if you allow yourself the pleasure. (And if you’re not lactose intolerant.)
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
Levy centres a tricky mother-daughter relationship in this taut novel set under the Spanish sun. A hypochondriac mother and her struggling twentysomething daughter go abroad in search of healing.
Pair with Skimmed milk. A slim drink for a slim but satisfying novel.
Milkman by Anna Burns
This won the Booker a few years back, and it’s no wonder. It’s a fabulous novel set in working-class Belfast during the Troubles, where nothing is what it seems — ‘Milkman’ is not, in fact, a milkman. One of those books where you have to persevere for a few pages to get into the dialect but once you do, the accents will be ringing in your ears for months.
Pair with The milk of human kindness. In short supply here.
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang
A strange smog has ravaged the world’s crops and livestock in this novel about the pleasures of taste. A chef accepts a job with an enigmatic employer hidden away in the mountains, where strawberries and other temptations are reserved for the elite.
Pair with That weird long life milk. When resources are scarce, it won’t be the good stuff in your cupboards.
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Rachel struggles with an eating disorder, her Jewish identity, and the weight of an overbearing mother. Then she meets Miriam, and her problems seem to briefly disappear. Food and sex intertwine in this sharply funny story of a girl’s journey to self-love.
Pair with Breast milk (weird, I know). This novel doesn’t shy away from the body or its fluids.
Spilt Milk by Amy Beashel
Having one child changed everything for Bea. This time, she has an appointment for a termination. This is a story about trust, secrets, and the power — or danger — of words left unsaid.
Pair with The tea. Secrets are gonna spill at some point.