The novel begins by immediately telling us what it is about: The escape that reading provides is important enough to her that she often reads while she walks. She likes to read classic eighteenth or nineteenth-century novels, partly because she enjoys them but also to avoid engaging with the dicey local politics whose consequences can be (and often are) deadly. The first-person narrator is an eighteen-year-old girl. The two sides of the political conflict are referred to as “renouncers of the state” and “defenders of the state.” England is “the country over the water,” and Ireland “the country over the border.” Since the characters are unnamed, the narrator / central character is referred to as “middle sister” by her sisters, “maybe girlfriend” by her unofficial boyfriend and “daughter” by her mother. The story takes place in an unnamed city but enough markers are given that a reader can place it as Belfast in the 1970s, during the Troubles. Some readers have struggled with this and reviews are polarized however, I thought it was not only readable but entertaining. Milkman has been called “experimental fiction” because it’s written in stream-of-consciousness narration conveyed through long sentences and paragraphs, because the narrative goes on long tangents, and because the characters and places go unnamed. That and a rave review from Sunita convinced me to read it. As she makes her way across town, the narrator takes the reader on a journey as it tells the story and happenings of various members of the Doe clan.Your novel, Milkman, recently won the Man Booker Prize. The stage for a confrontation is set when Jetty Doe breakings into a gun store and makes off with a weapon. However, there are signs that the family’s patriarch, John, time at the top is coming to an end. The family is made up of criminals and victims who have the run of the place.

In this book, the Doe clan lives in a small town of Tiptoe Floorboard. She attempts to avoid him and hopes that her mother won’t find out about the man, but rumors quickly spread in the small town and now the threat of violence is lingering.īurns is also the author of Little Consequences. Now, a local paramilitary known as the milkman has begun pursuing her. People notice her because she reads while walking and lately she has been taking French classes at night downtown.

Milkman takes place in an unnamed city where middle sister stands out for all of the wrong reasons. If You Like Anna Burns Books, You’ll Love…

Anna burns books