Land of Milk and Honey

A Novel

By: C Pam Zhang

Narrated by: Eunice Wong

Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, HARPER'S BAZAAR, TOWN & COUNTRY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, ESQUIRE, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND MORE!

“One of the most pleasurable, inventive reads of the year… fiendishly, deliciously fun."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A profound exploration of human nature, the allure of pleasure and the choices we make in the face of adversity.”—NPR, "Books We Love"

“It’s rare to read anything that feels this unique.”–GABRIELLE ZEVIN, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

"Land of Milk and Honey is truly exceptional."–ROXANE GAY, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“A sharp, sensual piece of art.”–RAVEN LEILANI, New York Times bestselling author of Luster

The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world

A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles.

There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body.

In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.

Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.

©2023 C Pam Zhang (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Haunting. . .[Foodies] will find Land of Milk and Honey a gourmand’s dream. . .tense, unnerving and creepy. . .an extremely atmospheric novel about the interplay of environmental destruction and class. The bittersweet aftertaste will leave you considering what you’d be willing to do—or resist doing—to experience the most essential pleasure.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Mesmerizing. . .A bold encouragement to dwell within our desires, even if we ultimately decide that the consequences do not justify the pursuit. [Zhang’s] message is an addendum to the two stark words—'she wants'—that ended her first novel. Now she seems to be saying: She wants so that she may live.”—The Atlantic

"Majestic . . .Zhang may be one of the first novelists to devote serious attention to the ways that the climate crisis may disrupt the world’s food supply. . .Zhang reframes the urgency of this disaster in a way that even the finest journalistic or academic work cannot, evoking the day-by-day human experience of inhabiting a dying planet and attempting to obtain pleasure wherever one can find it."—New Republic

Sublime

Deliciously salt sweet sour sublime. I will devour this poem/story again again again and again

Delicious performance and story

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to when I first started it. The second half of the story and the exquisite writing hooked me. The narrator is incredible — she does the poetic writing justice with her tone and cadence.

Not What I Expected

This was a story that started with echos of Soylent Green but then went off in a completely unexpected and thought provoking direction. Well worth the read.

Poetic, Unsettling, and Beautiful

A beautifully written piece of speculative fiction. The dystopian future Zhang creates seems all too possible. And through all of that darkness and pain and evolution and human triumph, she gives the reader an endearing story of unconditional love.

Funny World these characters inhabit.

lots of food for thought...literally...the story is an homage to good food and the language of food also tells the story. A good story for sure.

Kind of meh

Reader is lackluster, monotone, mostly. Story is not great. Kind of a dud, in my opinion.

Amazing!

Beautifully written! I’m going to buy a hard copy just to reread certain sections. Loved it!

Great piece of Literature!

Such a well written novel. Descriptive words and phrases holding true to the “chef” theme intrigued me throughout the entirety of the book. The many underlying conversations kept me wishing I was reading this with others so I could discuss it all! Climate change, the Asian American-woman persona, relationships between friends, employers, lovers, and our earth…all pieces of this novel making it something special. Some people say, “no one can write anything new…all things have been written…authors just have to tell a new story about the same things that have been written.” I truly feel this book is a new and fresh piece of literature. Well done! A great read!

Mixed Feelings

I felt this book started off in a good direction but had a hard time finding it’s footing. I hated all of the characters in this book which means I was emotionally invested. But I felt the main character needed more backstory to understand that she was the true antagonist in this novel. Definitely worth the read.

Compelling, imaginative, beautiful and visceral

What begins as a not-so-distant future fiction with a hint of sci-fi eventually became a thought experiment that left me questioning some of my beliefs regarding virtue, value, and taste. A great read for anyone who falls on the Venn diagram of caring about both food and climate change.