BREAKING MILK, a novel

251pp., paperback, Cape Town, 2019

Kate is estranged from her only child, a daughter whose children, conjoined twins, are about to undergo surgery. Her employee, a young black man, is undergoing initiation. Forbidden to have contact with him at this time, his mother anxiously awaits his return.

"A probing meditation on motherhood, not only in personal and human terms, but also with regard to our lives as destructive children of the earth. The focus is a single day in Kate's life, where she is the knot straining to hold together not only herself, but several critical threads of her personal community. Garisch's voice is unique in so seamlessly integrating contrasts of harsh emotion and scientific knowledge, generativity and decay, frailty and strength." Ken Barris, author of The Life of Worm & Other Misconceptions

Dawn Garisch is a practising medical doctor and lives in Cape Town. She is the author of six novels, including Trespass and Accident, and a collection of poems. Breaking Milk is her seventh novel. She is a founder member of The Life Righting Collective where she runs courses in memoir writing.