Milkman: Winner of the 2018 Man Booker Prize - Award-Winning Literary Fiction Novel for Book Clubs & Reading Enthusiasts

I loved this book. It took some time to read as I wanted to savor every word, sentence and page. I frequently turned down page corners to revisit passages or sentences that took my breath away. Or when tears made it impossible to continue.Anna Burns captures a time and a place with the absolute essence of what it was like to grow up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.She gets all of the details, all of the nuances, the injustices, the atrocities of everyday life.Her cast of characters are all very very real, as crazy as that may seem. I grew up in the North, a child when the troubles began with the killings and bombings, internment, checkpoints, harassment an the fear. Trusting no one, ‘say nothing’ mentality, not knowing nor fully understanding what exactly was going on, all the while going about day to day living, accepting that ‘this’ is/was normal.I so enjoyed being in Middle sister’s head, so wise and observant, way beyond her 18 years of age as she negotiates the landmines of daily living; the attention she unwittingly gets from The Milkman, the nagging from her mother, her Busybody First Brother-in-law, and Tablets girl to name a few. The locals who fear she’s not like them because she reads 19th Century novels as she walks – they are quick to judge and further isolate her. Middle sister knows much loss and has witnessed atrocities in her peripheral view. I feel like I know Middle sister and my heart breaks for the anguish she endures. I hear her voice in the meandering dialogue, the fear along with humour, and all that wit and intelligence sprinkled with glee throughout. I was sad when the book ended and sadder to say goodbye to Middle sister, wee sisters, and Ma. Ach aye. Indeed.