Milkman

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2018
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2019
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2019

Milkman is extraordinary. I've been reading passages aloud for the pleasure of hearing it. It's frightening, hilarious, wily and joyous all at the same time. - Lisa McInerney, author of The Glorious Heresies

This beautiful and painful novel by Orange Prize shortlisted Anna Burns blends shades of early Edna O'Brien with Eimear McBride's exquisite ability to capture voice.

'Blazing.' Daily Telegraph
'Outstanding.' New Statesman
'A triumph.' Guardian
'Utterly compelling.' Irish Times
'The best Booker winner in years.' Metro


In an unnamed city, where to be interesting is dangerous, an eighteen-year-old woman has attracted the unwanted and unavoidable attention of a powerful and frightening older man, 'Milkman'. In this community, where suggestions quickly become fact, where gossip and hearsay can lead to terrible consequences, what can she do to stop a rumour once it has started? Milkman is persistent, the word is spreading, and she is no longer in control . . .

Winner of the International Dublin Literary Award 2020 and the Man Booker Prize 2018

Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Women's Prize for Fiction, and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction