Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn

 

This novel is part of the Patrick Melrose series of novels that detail the life of the Melrose family.  In this novel, Patrick and Mary are starting their family.  Robert is the first child and immediately becomes their entire world.  A few years later Thomas is born.  The two have very different reactions to their role as parents.  Mary focuses almost exclusively on the children, sacrificing her relationship to Patrick to more fully meet their needs.  Patrick wants his single life back when he only had to worry about his own needs and is depressed.

But there are other relationships.  The couple both have mother issues.  Mary is over devoted to her children because she felt abandoned and criticized.  She still feels criticized by her mother in everything she does.  Patrick's mother has changed entirely since the death of his father.  Although Patrick always expected to inherit the family money, his mother became entranced by a con man, Seamus, who convince her to start a soulwork center and she eventually gives her entire fortune, including the ancestral house to Seamus and the foundation.  Patrick begins to drink heavily and have affairs.

This is one of the four Patrick Melrose novels.  It was a Booker Prize nominee in 2006 and a New York Times Notable Book.  Although not cheerful, it is a searing portrayal of the family relationships that exist between parent and child and between marriage partners.  The reader feels that if Patrick was a different man, he could solve his issues and find ways to carve out a more successful life but that is not his case.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.