When Miriam, an orthodox Jewish server at a frozen yoghurt parlour, overfills her cup, the starved Rachel is reborn. She begins gorging, not just on food but also sex; there is even a spiritual hunger to reconnect with her Jewish ancestry. Rachel’s often quite mad sex fantasies can be hair-raising, but also oddly mechanical — the most eroticised, tender and romanticised writing in this singular novel is of food.
Don’t be put off if Milk Fed sounds a bit disgusting and weird. It is! But that’s love. That’s the point. Luckily, Broder’s deep delving is leavened by a genuinely hilarious turn of phrase and a wicked satirical eye that will make you laugh out loud more than you gasp in horror. If, like me, you are an accidental connoisseur of sexed-up Jewish Orthodox literature, you’ll know what I mean when I say this is Foreskin’s Lament meets Disobedience.If not, get stuck in and find out. Just don’t forget your napkin.
