Description

Illuminating an important book Sunday Times
A fascinating journey through the social cultural and historical meanings of breastfeeding A sublime book Elinor Cleghorn author of Unwell Women
Erudite intimate and compelling a longoverdue history Leah Hazard author of Hard Pushed
A story for us all BBC History Magazine

Milk is elemental It is the first thing we look for at birth and for most it is the first substance to touch our tongues after we enter the world It is the promise of nourishment of care of life

Using the arc of her own experience cultural historian Joanna Wolfarth takes us on an intimate journey of discovery beyond mother and baby asking how the world views caregivers their bodies their labour and their communal bonds By bringing together art social histories philosophy folk wisdom and contemporary interviews with women from across the world Milk reveals how infant feeding has been represented and repressed celebrated and censured In doing so it charts previously unexplored territory and offers comfort and solace to anyone who has fed or will feed a child