Mother's Milk: A Novel - Hardcover

St. Aubyn, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1890447404 ISBN 13: 9781890447403

Publisher: Grove Press, Open City Books, 2005

Synopsis

Writing with the scathing wit and bright perceptiveness for which he has become known, celebrated English author Edward St. Aubyn creates a complex family portrait that examines the shifting allegiances between mothers, sons, and husbands. The novel’s perspective ricochets among all members of the Melrose family -- the family featured in St. Aubyn’s widely praised trilogy, Some Hope -- starting with Robert, who provides an exceptionally droll and convincing account of being born; to Patrick, a hilariously churlish husband who has been sexually abandoned by his wife in favor of his sons; to Mary, who’s consumed by her children and 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 St. Aubyn’s luminous and acidic prose -- and his masterful ability to combine the most excruciating emotional pain with the driest comedy.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Mother's Milk was a 2005 New York Notable book and is a finalist for the 2006 Man Booker Prize.

About the Author:

Edward St Aubyn's superbly acclaimed Melrose novels are Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother's Milk (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006) and At Last. He is also the author of the novels A Clue to the Exit, On the Edge, Lost for Words and Dunbar.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press, Open City Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1890447404
• ISBN 13: 9781890447403
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240