Discover our Monthly Spotlight for June: Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
This month, we head to coastal Spain and dive into a searing novel that explores the complex relationship between mother and daughter, carer and cared-for
Where do you most like to read?
For author Deborah Levy it’s ‘everywhere, on trains and planes, on my sofa and on a rock by the sea’.
On a rock by the sea would be an especially good place to read Levy’s novel Hot Milk, although she’ll easily transport you there from your sofa.
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016, Hot Milk immerses us in the interior world of 25-year-old Sofia during an extended stay in AlmerÃa, southern Spain, with her mother Rose.
Rose is experiencing a mysterious paralysis and driven to seek help beyond the bounds of conventional medicine. Sofia, who has spent years playing the reluctant detective in this mystery, struggles to understand her mother’s illness.
Searching for a cure to a defiant and quite possibly imagined disease, while exploring her own desires, Sofia is forced to finally confront her difficult relationship with her mother.
Hot Milk is a novel that Booker-winner Bernardine Evaristo has said everyone should read, describing it as ‘beautifully rich, vividly atmospheric and psychologically complex’.
As a film adaptation of the book is released – directed by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and starring Emma Mackey as Sofia and Fiona Shaw as Rose – we explore Hot Milk and talk to its acclaimed author.
Deborah Levy tells us what it’s like to watch your novel move from page to screen, and why books and films necessarily have their own, different languages.
Our Monthly Spotlight for June also includes a reading guide and an extract from Hot Milk, as well as a chance to win a copy of the book.
Enjoy a conversation with Deborah Levy
‘Film has its own language, and the novelist has her own language.’
Deborah Levy reflects on books and films, fiction and non-fiction, stage and screen, and shares her reading, listening and watching recommendations in this exclusive Q&A.
Explore our reading guide to the novel
Whether you’re new to Hot Milk or have read it and would like to think about it more deeply, this comprehensive guide features insights from critics and the book’s author, as well as discussion points and suggestions for further reading.
Read an extract from Hot Milk
‘Today I dropped my laptop on the concrete floor of a bar built on the beach. It was tucked under my arm and slid out of its black rubber sheath (designed like an envelope), landing screen side down. The digital page is now shattered but at least it still works. My laptop has all my life in it and knows more about me than anyone else.
So what I am saying is that if it is broken, so am I.’
Win a copy of Hot Milk and a Booker Prize tote bag
Your chance to win a copy of the novel and a limited-edition, money-can’t-buy Booker Prize tote bag, featuring illustrations by artist Iris de Moüy. Simply enter your details on our website by 12:00 BST on Friday 27 June 2025. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world. Good luck!
Happy reading, and don’t forget to let us – and fellow readers – know what you think about Hot Milk in the comments.
Must read, fabulous read 💕📚💕