Rainbow Milk

Name: Rainbow Milk
Brand: Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand
SKU: 9780349700588
Price: 27.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

an Observer 2020 Top 10 Debut

By Paul Mendez and Mendez

0.0 (0 reviews)

3.86

( 7,067 ratings, 866 reviews)

Summary

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez is a vibrant and moving exploration of identity, race, and sexuality. It follows the intertwining lives of Norman Alonso and his grandson, Jesse, as they navigate their respective journeys. The narrative deftly captures the struggles and resilience of dealing with societal expectations, faith, and the pursuit of personal freedom across generations.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$27⁹⁹

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Rainbow Milk

$27⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're interested in a powerful and evocative coming-of-age tale. It delves into themes of identity, race, and sexuality, offering a unique perspective on the challenges and triumphs of navigating one's path in a multicultural world. This narrative will captivate you with its rich character development and emotional depth.

Rainbow Milk

A raw, essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice in queer black fiction, with shades of James Baldwin, Kei Miller and Moonlight. RAINBOW MILK is Dialogue's lead debut for 2020.

Description

An OBSERVER TOP TEN DEBUT 2020 Shortlisted for the GORDON BURN PRIZE, JHALAK PRIZE, POLARI PRIZE and the FICTION DEBUT CATEGORY OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS

Rainbow Milk is an intersectional coming-of-age story, following nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of a Jehovah's Witness upbringing and the legacies of the Windrush generation.

In the Black Country in the 1950s, ex-boxer Norman Alonso is a determined and humble Jamaican who has moved to Britain with his wife to secure a brighter future for themselves and their children. Blighted with unexpected illness and racism, Norman and his family are resilient in the face of such hostilities, but are all too aware that they will need more than just hope to survive.

At the turn of the millennium, Jesse seeks a fresh start in London - escaping from a broken immediate family, a repressive religious community and the desolate, disempowered Black Country - but finds himself at a loss for a new centre of gravity, and turns to sex work to create new notions of love, fatherhood and spirituality.

Rainbow Milk is a bold exploration of race, class, sexuality, freedom and religion across generations, time and cultures. Mendez is a fervent new writer with an original and urgent voice.

'Sensuous and thrillingly well written' Observer

'When did you last read a novel about a young, black, gay, Jehovah's Witness man from Wolverhampton who flees his community to make his way in London as a prostitute? This might be a debut, but Mendez is an exciting, accomplished and daring storyteller with a great ear for dialogue. Graphic Erotica Alert! Don't read this book if you like your fiction cosy and middle-of-the-road' - Bernardine Evaristo, winner of the 2019 Booker Prize for Girl, Woman, Other

'The kind of novel you never knew you were waiting for. An explosive work that reels from sex, to sin, to salvation all the while grappling with what it means to be black, gay, British, a son, a father, a lover, even a man. A remarkable debut' - Marlon James, Booker Prize winning author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf

'This debut cements Mendez as a stunning new voice in fiction' Cosmopolitan

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez is praised as an impactful debut that establishes Mendez as a remarkable new voice in fiction. The novel is a gripping, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story centred on 19-year-old Jesse in the Black Country of the 1950s. It explores themes of racial and sexual identity amidst a repressive religious background, and is considered an original contribution to queer fiction, with exquisite descriptions of the body, identity, and English history intertwined with discussions of blackness, queerness, and class.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349700588

Publisher: John Murray Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 04 February 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Dialogue Books

Contributors:

Translated by Priscilla Layne

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 288g

Pages: 368

Collections

Education & Reference Fiction General Fiction LGBTQ+ Literary Fiction Mendez Paul Mendez

About the Author

Paul Mendez was born and raised in the Black Country. He now lives in London and is studying for an MA in Black British Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has been a performing member of two theatre companies, and worked as a voice actor, appearing on audiobooks by Andrea Levy, Paul Theroux and Ben Okri, most recently recording Ian Wright's A Life in Football for Hachette Audio. As a writer, he has contributed to the Times Literary Supplement and the Brixton Review of Books. Rainbow Milk is his debut novel.