Edward St Aubyn Mother's milk

[DutchOma]

I've only had a quick look for this book and not found it, so apologies if it has been discussed recently.
I have just finished it and found it very interesting for the first five pages, but then lost interest since it was all 'affairs and adultery' It seemed that it was a collection of stories more than a whole story and the dates seemed so very strange to me.
The first boy is born in 2000, then his brother three years later and in 2003 the brother is three. Err...?
Anybody any views on it?

The funny thing is, I read this book fairly recently (within the last 12 months) and can remember absolutely nothing about it, apart from some (most?) of it taking place in the south of France. So, not a book which has changed my life!

I read this some months ago... and I'm afraid pg brain is not helping!
I think I enjoyed it but it wasn't what I was expecting. I understand it's based on authors own experiences, poor chap.

Well, you two are a lot of help

Yes, but I guess that that in itself says something about the book! I had heard that it was one of those books you simply have to read (blah blah blah) but, as I said before, it left virtually no impression on me. I've just been looking at some reader reviews on the Web, and some more of the detail of the plot is coming back to me, but without that I would have forgotten it almost completely.

Perhaps someone will come along later who has a more retentive memory.

I read it a while back, so memories are slightly sketchy.
I seem to remember

not really liking any of the characters, (I wanted to shake the wife/mother)

thinking the Mother/Granny was being taken for a ride about the people taking over her house for their commune thing, and why didn't anyone DO something about it;

the way the little boy was portrayed never seemed to really ring true (if a writer puts himself in the position of describing a small child's reactions, it's irritating for me, to feel "this is an adult writing how it should be, rather than how it is")

and feeling thoroughly disappointed that things just drifted to a not very conclusive ending.

But like Bocca and Each, it slipped by me, although I do remember thinking parts were well written.

I enjoyed it at the time but now that I think about it, really struggle to remember much about it, which is hardly a ringing endorsement. Certainly agree that none of the characters were likeable.

I found it very readable (though quite disturbing) at the time, and know that it did reflect a lot of experiences of the author himself.... but like the others, I can't really remember the details. Did go on to read his other books that follows (names? Escape me!). Agree that not many of the characters were likeable, but didn't find that an issue, iyswim....

Friend of a friend is a friend of the author (are you following?!), and I know he had quite a f**ked up childhood, so can only assume that writing this was quite cathartic for him. Whether or not we as readers need to know this in order to fully appreciate the book, I'm not sure....

It is part of a trilogy I believe too.