Cover of Mother’s Milk

Mother’s Milk

Edward St Aubyn, 2006

British novelist, born 1960.

Mother’s Milk is a 2006 novel by Edward St Aubyn. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006.

  • Critics' Darling

In family saga

On 2 of the 15 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
Edward St Aubyn
First published
2006
Length
288 pages (UK paperback)
Awards
Genre
Literary fiction, Family saga, Class and society, Psychological
Series
Book 4 of The Patrick Melrose novels

Is Mother’s Milk worth reading?

2 of the 15 best-of lists it could have made include it: the Booker Prize and The 100 best books of the 21st century (The Guardian).

ListPlaceOriginal
Booker Prize (winners and shortlists) (Booker Prize Foundation, 2006)ShortlistSee the list
The 100 best books of the 21st century (The Guardian, 2019)No. 62See the list

Best edition of Mother’s Milk

The edition we link to is the Picador paperback (2025), 288 pages.

Publisher
Picador (paperback, 2025)
Pages
288
ISBN
9781035063765

How critics, prizes and readers rate Mother’s Milk

Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 22% of the points available on prize lists, against 12% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
12%
Prizes
22%
Readers and booksellers
0%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Lists used on this page