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Hot Milk
- Narrated by: Romola Garai
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 03-31-16
- Language: English
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Regular price: $21.31
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Publisher's Summary
Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, read by Romola Garai.
Two strangers arrive in a small Spanish fishing village. The older woman is suffering from mysterious paralysis, driven to seek a cure beyond the bounds of conventional medicine. Her daughter, Sofia, has spent years playing the reluctant detective in this mystery, struggling to understand her mother's illness.
Surrounded by the oppressive desert heat, searching for a cure to a defiant and quite possibly imagined disease, Sofia is forced to confront her difficult relationship with her mother. Examining female rage and sexuality, Deborah Levy explores the strange and monstrous nature of motherhood, testing the bonds of parent and child to a breaking point.
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Average Customer Ratings
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- A Person
- 12-07-16
Dreamlike and fascinating
This is an engaging story told in an impressionistic way with elements of magical realism. Cinematic in style, it reminded me a little of Almodovar's films. The narration was superb, a very committed performance and beautiful voice.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Deborah
- 02-10-17
Very strange story
Certainly wouldn't recommend this rather nasty story. Romola Garai attempted too many strange accents and it was a very unsatisfactory plot.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A. E. Ward
- 10-07-16
Perfect pairing
Romola Garai's voice is so beautiful, I can't wait for her to narrate some more books. The story has been described as hypnotic and her voice is absolutely perfect for it. Loved it.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Suswati
- 01-09-17
Well read and written but too long and fluffy
Deborah Levy is a wonderful writer and is able to explore characters in a detailed way.
Unfortunately the storyline is a little too convoluted, rather emotional with little substance about an adult daughter's relationship with both her parents. It could be cut down to half the length and even then it may be too long. This may appeal to drama lovers but be warned - the story can be summed up in a sentence.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- susan lowes
- 01-05-17
fascinating
Great book. Witty and insightful. Spoilt by terribke monotone reader wish I'd read it myself
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Miss S T Chapman
- 07-03-17
Lyrical
I really enjoyed the language of this book and the metaphors. It was a really relaxing listen too. Great job by the narrator. Only scored low because I think the actual story could have been stronger.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- S. Hoover
- 02-12-17
Challengingly complex characters.
Very well written, with prose that often merges into poetry. The author uses circular layers to make this a beautiful and evocative work. However, as usually with complex characters, the emotional connection with them was not there in the main. Although it is a story of self discovery and vanquishing personal demons, I found myself rooting for no one until the very end.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Louisa
- 09-03-18
Worth sticking with
About half way thought this book I nearly gave up - I really couldn't see where it was going. However, having decided to listen for a long stretch, I realised it was a book that needed to be "read" almost in one go. The reader was excellent and pushed the narrative along and one gradually got the point of the story. I would definitely recommend listening to it if you have time to stick with it and then gradually you get a sense of the flow of the book. But I feel it's not a book to be listened to in small snippets.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Lolopop
- 09-01-18
Boring
Honestly kind of boring and the readers voice is so monotone. The chapters are too long too
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ian
- 06-03-18
Fantastic story, leaden performance
When I read this book I absolutely loved it. I later got the Audible version as an alternative to re-reading it. Everything that I liked in the printed book is still discoverable. However, the reading has reduced the pleasure I can take in it. I've seen other reviews here that praise Romola Garai's beautiful voice. Perhaps she does have a beautiful voice but it's a ponderous reading that leaches all notes of humour from the text leaving it more starkly dark than the book. The reading of the main protagonist is, I guess, "defensible": the kind of interpretation that might be interesting if you've already heard several others. It's a reading that I find casts the main character as more deliberate and less attractive than the character as written. The reading of the mother, Rose, is good. The reading of all of the other characters is so heavily mannered and weirdly inflected that it changes and destroys every one of them. For a book set primarily in Spain, it's odd not to find any trace of a Spanish accent. But listen to the sample and judge for yourself. It's a terrific book that survives the quirky performance.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rochelle
- 08-17-16
Strange, seductive and powerfully sensual
Oh my gosh what an exciting novel Hot Milk is. I was a bit worried by the title that I was about to read some sort of weird MILF erotica. Just to be clear, it isn't MILF erotica (or any other kind of erotica). It is a very sexy novel, but not in the way you’re thinking.
It’s the story of Sofia and her mother, Rose. They are in Spain seeking treatment for an ailment that has stumped Rose’s doctors in England.
Sofia at 24, is an example of “failure to launch.” She has quit her PhD in anthropology to care for her mother. She works in a coffee shop. She has no romantic relationships, no home of her own. She failed her drivers licence four times. Seriously - four times! I'm in no place to criticise here, but she didn't even pass the theory!
The relationship between Sofia and Rose crackles with tension and hums with rage. Between them they are stuck. But as the epigraph of the novel instructs: "It's up to you to break the old circuits.” And it is up to Sofia and Rose to narrate their own new legends.
In Spain Sofia turns her anthropological eye upon herself. It's the beginning of her discovery of her sexuality, her seductiveness and her inner monster.
Levy's prose is itself powerfully seductive. It as warm as the air of southern Spain. It's smooth and divine and devilishly funny. It's also terribly sensual. The story has an ethereal quality that makes it feel hard to pin down at first, but the golden thread of Levy's metaphors lead us to see both the divine and the mortal in Sofia.
Romola Garai's velvety narration brings divinity to the seductiveness of Levy's prose. It's a perfect match of book and narrator. Garai's voicing, timing, characterisation - it's all perfect. I hope she'll find time in her busy schedule to narrated other audiobooks. Bravo Ms Garai, and bravo Ms Levy. A beautiful combination.
I'm not a classicist so I keep the internet handy when I'm reading. I get really excited by references that help me understand the book I'm reading better. In this instance I hunted down "milk as metaphor" ("hot milk" is semen for those interested. I wonder who else was visiting Juan in the injury hut! Otherwise "milk" can refer to spiritual immaturity, which I liked as a metaphor in this instance, or "mother's milk"). I also read about the myth of the Medusa, the beautiful, strong maiden who is turned into a powerful monster, later beheaded at the command of Athena. Also The Laugh of the Medusa, the essay from which Hot Milk takes its epigraph. Keep an ear out for David Bowie lyrics too!
Did I mention I loved this book? I loved this book. Seriously, loved it. It's long listed for the Man Booker Prize 2016 and is a very worthy contender.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Joy
- 01-12-17
Boring!
Kept hoping the story would improve. The narration was soooo monotone! I think she was bored also!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Trish
- 01-07-17
Hated it.
Has to be the most airy-fairy load of nonsense Ive read. waste of money.
up to Chapter 10 & cant stand the agony of finishing. No story line per se. Characters are wishy-washy. If you like a good read, miss this one. Narrator did her best.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful