I’ve read a lot this year, including around 400 short stories for the Manchester Fiction Prize in the first few months of 2022. As a writer it’s often hard for me to switch off the critical/analytical part of my brain when reading, so finding the right book to read in bed before sleep can be tricky. Recently I read a novel that I’d treated myself to, having been sent book tokens for last year’s birthday. I’ve loved other work by this author, the book had received lots of praise, and yet I wasn’t drawn into the book as I’d expected and wanted to be. There was much to admire, but I didn’t connect viscerally with the characters or plot. I don’t regret reading it. In fact it made me think about an old unpublished novel of mine and see its flaws, which I couldn’t all those years ago.

But what to read next? I landed on Milkman by Anna Burns and absolutely loved it! I’d found the book earlier this year in a box of books left on a low wall in a nearby side street for people to take for free. The title rang a bell though I hadn’t heard of the author (how out of touch am I?). Anyhoo, now I was ready to take the plunge, and plunge I did. From the very first page I was in that world, in the narrator’s head and experiencing this strange menacing-but-everyday environment she lived in.

I loved the language, the long twisting sentences following her thoughts and justifications. Her propensity for reading-while-walking (and I wish I’d made a note of the books she read). The characters mostly named by a relation or characteristic – middle daughter, third brother-in-law, tablets girl. And the meat of it – so much in here, about violence, stalking, misogyny, embedded conflict and its impact on individuals and society. But also resilience and humour, and a cracking story.

Now my dilemma is whether to keep the book or donate it to a local charity shop. We’re trying to declutter. But having written about Milkman, I feel I may want to reread it in the future. Certainly, I’ll keep an eye out for more of Anna Burns’ books.