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    Milk Blood Heat
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    Milk Blood Heat
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    Milk Blood Heat
    Ebook187 pages3 hours

    Milk Blood Heat

    By Dantiel W. Moniz

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

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    About this ebook

    LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN JEAN STEIN AND ROBERT W. BINGHAM AWARDS

    A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 

    "A gorgeous debut" (Lauren Groff) from Dantiel W. Moniz, one of the most exciting discoveries in today's literary landscape, Milk Blood Heat depicts the sultry lives of Floridians in intergenerational tales that contemplate human connection, race, womanhood, inheritance, and the elemental darkness in us all.

    A livewire debut from Dantiel W. Moniz, one of the most exciting discoveries in today's literary landscape, Milk Blood Heat depicts the sultry lives of Floridians in intergenerational tales that contemplate human connection, race, womanhood, inheritance, and the elemental darkness in us all. Set among the cities and suburbs of Florida, each story delves into the ordinary worlds of young girls, women, and men who find themselves confronted by extraordinary moments of violent personal reckoning. These intimate portraits of people and relationships scour and soothe and blast a light on the nature of family, faith, forgiveness, consumption, and what we may, or may not, owe one another.

    A thirteen-year-old meditates on her sadness and the difference between herself and her white best friend when an unexpected tragedy occurs; a woman recovering from a miscarriage finds herself unable to let go of her daughter—whose body parts she sees throughout her daily life; a teenager resists her family’s church and is accused of courting the devil; servers at a supper club cater to the insatiable cravings of their wealthy clientele; and two estranged siblings take a road-trip with their father’s ashes and are forced to face the troubling reality of how he continues to shape them.

    Wise and subversive, spiritual and seductive, Milk Blood Heat forms an ouroboros of stories that bewitch with their truth, announcing the arrival of a bright new literary star.

    Editor's Note

    Brilliant characters…

    Roxane Gay selected “Milk Blood Heat” as her Audacious Book Club April 2021 pick. Set in the Sunshine State, this collection shines a light on the lives of Black women and girls. Brilliant characters grapple with estrangement from church and family, the enthralling bonds of young best friends forever, and revenge. LitHub says, “Every story in this book feels soaked with heat and blood and wanting and a slice — sometimes more — of danger.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGrove Press
    Release dateFeb 2, 2021
    ISBN9780802158161

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    Reviews for Milk Blood Heat

    4/5

    64 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This was an absolutely riveting collection of short stories all centered on women, for the most part, and mortality. Beautifully written, Moniz set all of the stories in her home state of Florida and hot steaminess clung to every page. Eleven stories and yet I can't find a single dud among them. A wonderful debut for a very talented writer. I'll be looking forward to her next book.
    • 4/5
      Short story anthologies are not my favorite genre of books but this debut collection of tales depicting Black family and community experiences in North Florida is an impressive achievement by Dantiel Moniz. The author writes with a memorable, elegant style. Her protagonists are vibrantly depicted and complex, inviting empathy from the reader even when they are wallowing in questionable behavior, as is the case is “The Loss of Heaven” when a man losing his wife to cancer reflects on his past shortcomings while drowning his worries at the bar and leering at the comely staff. Other storylines surprise and even shock with their elements; in “Exotics”, staff at an exclusive Supper Club serve their hedonistic patrons while holding their noses and masking disdain.

      But most of the stories movingly portray adolescent female/adult mother relationships, and family life in general, in a finely crafted manner. Your heart hurts to see a mother’s neglect in “An Almanac of Bones”, and breaks further in “Thicker than Water” to read about the root cause of an estranged brother and sister’s damaged relationship as they come together to bury their dead father.

      Some stories missed the mark for me, but this could be just personal preference and on the whole, I was impressed by Moniz held my interest, and more importantly, succeeded in getting me to feel invested in the characters, even in the limited framework of a dedicated chapter at a time.
    • 5/5
      Love love loveeeeee this book. From the very first story to the last, the reader is too captivated to even put the book down. Some of these stories may make you cry, laugh, happy, or sad. Worth the read
    • 5/5
      Beautiful story telling, with characters that mirror the most real versions of a main character that could be asked for. The way that this book is written makes you feel like you’re right there, and even in the most mystical and mythical passages, it’s so incredibly realistic.
    • 5/5
      The books are totally deserving. I loved them, and I think they are must read. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top
    • 4/5
      The author did a great job. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top