Mary is a new mother transformed by the birth of her baby; Walter, a lonely gay Episcopal priest, privately struggles with his contradictory desires; and John, a monk who has left his monastery after fifteen years, craves intimacy with a woman. With mesmerizing prose, Darcey Steinke weaves together the lives of these three characters in ways that explore the intersection of spirituality and sexuality and reveal how even our rawest, most confused impulses may contain elements of the divine. Darcey Steinkeis the author of three previous novels, two of which wereNew York TimesNotable Books of the Year. Her novelSuicide Blondehas been translated into eight languages. Her short fiction has appeared in theLiterary Review,Story, andBomb, and her nonfiction has been featured in theWashington Post, theChicago Tribune, theVillage Voice,Spin, and theNew York Times Magazine. Steinke's Web project,Blindspot, was included in the Whitney Museum's 2000 Biennial. She currently teaches at New School University in New York City and lives with her daughter in Brooklyn. Mary is a new mother transformed by the birth of her baby.
She is infatuated with the tiny creature, yet feels abandoned by her husband. As her baby sleeps in his crib, she doesn't know whether to kneel in her coat closet and pray or fantasize about sex. She seeks refuge in her old friend Walker, a lonely gay Episcopal priest, who privately struggles with his own contradictory desires. Still grieving over the death of his boyfriend, he finds himself dangerously attracted to a teenage boy. How can he lead his church when he is overwhelmed by nascent desires? Meanwhile Mary meets John, a monk who has just left his monastery after fifteen years because he feels abandoned by God and craves intimacy with a woman. Will their connection give either one of them what they are looking for? With mesmerizing prose, Darcey Steinke's novel weaves together these three characters' lives in ways that reveal how even our rawest, most confused impulses may contain elements of the divine. "Darcey Steinke's new novel,Milkis a furtive little book, a kinky Christian fable about three Brooklyn outcasts obsessed with God and sex . At 131 pages,Milkcompletes its character studies using prayers, sex scenes, and hallucinatory descriptions of the characters' shared neighborhood in winter .
The hermeneutics that informed the literary criticism of the 1950s comes to mind: Is there a Via Dolorosa in Walter's path through the gay bars? Is John's prostitute the Magdalene? Who is the Christ figure here? Though sexy and cool in its own way,Milkrisks raising these musty, shameful questions, and the novel is all the more eccentric and enthralling for that."--The New York Times Book Review "Darcey Steinke'sMilkmay be the most intense and extraordinary fusion of the erotic and the mystical since Bernini met Saint Teresa of Avila."--Madison Smartt Bell "Milkis simple and wild, a portrait of ordinary people on the edge of a miracle. Darcey Steinke writes with beauty and grace, and she captures a state of longing so fierce, my heart might never be the same."--Luanne Rice "Darcey Steinke is a little bit on fire here. This novel burns with a hot, brave urgency to recognize God, to understand sex, to absolve loneliness, and to tear the lid off New York City, and find the life beating underneath. A stunning, artistic work of passion."--Elizabeth Gilbert.