Hot Milk - bookwyrm.cincodenada.com

paperback, 240 pages

Published May 9, 2017 by Bloomsbury USA.

ISBN:: 9781620406700

(1 review)

"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. Sophia's …

"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. Sophia'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.

4 editions

Fionnáin reviewed Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Review of 'Hot Milk' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

Deborah Levy is a craftperson. Like in the Ancient Greek statues you can't see the marks of the chisel and the finished product looks effortless, but there is a life of craft and creativity hidden beneath the seamless veneer. Hot Milk is deceptively simple. It presents a maybe-hypochondriac mother Rose and her daughter Sofia (yes, wisdom), two English women sharing the Greek surname of Sofia's father.

The narration is mostly provided by Sofia. The story takes place in post-economic-crash Spain (and a little in Greece), where Rose is trying one last long-shot to find a cure for her legs, which don't work all the time. Sofia has cared for her since she was a child, and resents her position as carer. She seeks freedom but seems trapped as an anthropologist, doomed to observe. Her father ran away to his homeland years ago and now lives in Athens with a wife …

Deborah Levy is a craftperson. Like in the Ancient Greek statues you can't see the marks of the chisel and the finished product looks effortless, but there is a life of craft and creativity hidden beneath the seamless veneer. Hot Milk is deceptively simple. It presents a maybe-hypochondriac mother Rose and her daughter Sofia (yes, wisdom), two English women sharing the Greek surname of Sofia's father.

The narration is mostly provided by Sofia. The story takes place in post-economic-crash Spain (and a little in Greece), where Rose is trying one last long-shot to find a cure for her legs, which don't work all the time. Sofia has cared for her since she was a child, and resents her position as carer. She seeks freedom but seems trapped as an anthropologist, doomed to observe. Her father ran away to his homeland years ago and now lives in Athens with a wife who is only a little older than Sofia, and a new baby daughter. In Spain, the (maybe quack) doctor Gómez, his daughter, two love interests and a couple of extras make up an ensemble cast, an entanglement of human, jellyfish and one dog actor who all play parts in this comic tragedy.

The familial struggles and simple concepts are a narrative base for a more interesting metaphorical play, and a clever use of classical storytelling to present a myth for our times.