Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2006.
The novel’s perspective ricochets among all members of the Melrose family – the family featured in St. Aubyn’s Melrose series that began with Never Mind – starting with Robert, who provides an exceptionally droll and compelling account of being born; to Patrick, a hilariously churlish husband who has been sexually abandoned by his wife in favour of his sons; to Mary, who’s consumed by her children and an overwhelming desire not to repeat the mistakes of her own mother. All the while, St. Aubyn examines the web of false promises that entangle this once-illustrious family whose last vestige of wealth – an old house in the south of France – is about to be donated by Patrick’s mother to a New Age foundation.
An up-to-the-minute dissection of the mores of child-rearing, marriage, adultery and assisted suicide, Mother’s Milk showcases Edward St. Aubyn’s luminous and acidic prose – and his masterful ability to combine the most excruciating emotional pain with the driest comedy. Absorb Mother's Milk into your and bloodstream and postnatal depression will never seem the same again . . .
Never Mind (the first Melrose)
Bad News (Melrose 2)
Some Hope (Melrose 3)
Mother's Milk (Melrose 4)
At Last (the last Melrose)
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
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Closing date: 04/07/2026
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Winner of the South Bank Literature Award
'So good - so fantastically well-written, profound and humane . . . it is heart-stopping' - Observer
The once illustrious, once wealthy Melroses are in peril. Caught up in the wreckage of broken promises, child-rearing, adultery and assisted suicide, Patrick finds his wife Mary consumed by motherhood, his mother in thrall to a New Age foundation, and his young son Robert understanding far more than he should. But even as the family struggles against the pull of its ever-present past, a new generation brings a new tenderness, and the possibility of change.
'Wonderful caustic wit . . . Polished yet profound, it's even better than his previous work, and that's saying something' - The Guardian
'Mother's Milk has the cerebral excitement and piercing funniness of St Aubyn at his brilliant best' - Tatler
Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.
Mother's Milk features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Mother's Milk is available in Paperback
Mother's Milk was written by Edward St. Aubyn and published by Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan
Mother's Milk has 288 pages
Yes it is part of Picador Collection series
£9.89
