Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
Edward St Aubyn
Picador 2006
Mother’s Milk is another snapshot from the life of Patrick Melrose who, in the earlier trilogy Some Hope, went through a drug addiction and came out the other side. Twenty years later Patrick has other demons: a marriage on the rocks, a destructive affair, a drink problem, and an incapacitated mother who has been cheated out of the inheritance he thinks is his by a New Age charlatan. This potted account makes the novel sound a bit grim, but while it’s true that the overall feeling is one of inherited unhappiness and despair, there is some grim humour – particularly in its depiction of modish “spirituality” and American attitudes post 9/11 – to lighten the burden. The main theme here is, as the title suggests, the effects of the relationship between mother and child, just as the earlier book explored a cruel father’s legacy. However, unfortunately the one thing which did not ring true was the depiction of Patrick’s two sons, who are precocious to say the least. This is disappointing as in this well-observed and beautifully written novel St Aubyn has a lot of pertinent and interesting things to say about children and adults - and the development of both.
11 January 2012
http://www.edwardstaubyn.com/
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