Milk, Bread, Teeth - by Amy Twigg (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Milk, Bread, Teeth, Amy Twigg's electrifying new novel, is a work of literary body horror in the vein of Nightbitch and Milk Fed, with the dark social critique of The Substance.

Lena's body is no longer her own. It is occupied by a growing appetite, a hunger that demands to be fed. From inside her luxury apartment, Lena tries to appease it by gorging herself, day and night. Whole loaves of bread, protein shakes--tins of cat food if all else fails.

When Joan, an actress on the cusp of stardom, moves into the apartment above, Lena is quick to make friends. She soon finds herself in Joan's orbit, enjoying the trappings of wealth and privilege, the kind she has always pined for. But with the hunger demanding more and more, Lena's carefully constructed image of herself starts to unravel. And as her appetite veers into the inedible, she must fight to remember who she is.

Milk, Bread, Teeth is an unflinching exploration of dissatisfaction and disparity, a deliciously grim and transgressive tale that draws the reader into a frenzy of insatiable desire and consumption. It's a propulsive, eerie novel inspired by Amy's experiences with chronic illness and her place in publishing as a working-class woman.

Review Quotes

"Gluttonous, audacious, and altogether a delectable work of genius. Amy Twigg announces herself as the new harbinger of horror."

--Lucy Rose, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Lamb

"Milk, Bread, Teeth is stare-at-a-wall levels of moving and Twigg is a stratospheric talent."

--Charlotte Paradise, author of Overspill

"A ravenous, transgressive novel that sinks its teeth into class, loneliness, and the impossible demands we make of women's bodies. Grotesque, hypnotic, and wickedly intelligent, it left me desperate for one more bite. Amy Twigg is one of the most exciting new voices in literary horror."

--Seth Insua, author of Human, Animal and Man and Wife

"Amy Twigg writes the body in all its conflicting intricacies: it is a site of horror and desire, of pleasure and pain, of sickness and health. Milk, Bread, Teeth will nourish the most abject parts of yourself."

--Lara Williams, author of The Odyssey and Supper Club

"I devoured this book and it devoured me right back. Compulsive. Amy Twigg is a rare talent."

--Jennie Godfrey, USA Today and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The List of Suspicious Things

"I loved this queasy, darkly funny, downward spiral of a novel that explores how a woman's desire to be taken seriously goes to extreme lengths. Amy Twigg is honing her craft with this impeccable body horror that consumes you. I can't wait to see what's next."

--Emma Van Straaten, author of This Immaculate Body

"I'm drinking the Amy Twigg Kool-Aid."

--Alice Slater, author of Death of a Bookseller