Hot Milk

Hot Milk (2016) is a novel written by South African and British author Deborah Levy. It follows Sofia Papastergiadis, who has been caring for her mother, Rose, through Rose’s hypochondria-driven illnesses. Sofia and Rose go to Almeria, Spain, to seek treatment from Dr. Gomez. While there, Sofia must confront her mother’s dependency on her and question what she wants in her own life. Levy explores themes of The Struggle for Independence, The Complexities of Sexual Desire and Identity, and The Blurred Line Between Physical and Psychological Suffering. The novel is written in a postmodernist style, often bending time and including metaphorical scenes of events and thoughts in the main character’s mind.

Levy is a prolific poet, novelist, and playwright. Her plays include Pax, Heresies, The B File, and Pushing the Prince into Denmark, and she has worked as both director and writer of Man Act Theatre Company. Levy has written a number of short stories and novels, including Swimming Home and The Man Who Saw Everything, which were nominated for the Man Booker Prize. Hot Milk was adapted into a film starring Emma Mackey as Sofia and Vicky Krieps as Ingrid in 2025.

This guide is based on the 2016 Bloomsbury edition of the text.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of illness, sexual content, emotional abuse, animal cruelty and death, mental illness, and ableism.

Plot Summary

Sofia and Rose Papastergiadis go to Almeria, Spain to receive treatment for Rose’s lower-body paralysis from Dr. Gomez. Shortly after arriving, Sofia’s laptop, which contains her unfinished anthropology thesis, cracks. Rose constantly asks Sofia for water and criticizes her. Sofia swims in the ocean and gets stung by jellyfish, called “medusas” in Spain, leading her to go to an injury hut. Sofia’s bathing suit top falls before she visits the hut, where she meets Juan, a student treating medusa stings. Sofia fills out an injury form which asks her for her occupation, which forces her to think about her life.

Rose and Sofia meet Gomez, who seems to talk past Rose as she tries to explain her medical issues. Gomez takes Rose off of some of her medications and prescribes vitamins, which Rose and Sofia find odd. The clinic lends Rose a car, though she claims she cannot drive, and Sofia does not have a license. The physiotherapist at the clinic, Julieta, is Gomez’s daughter, and they have a cat, Jodo, which irritates Rose.

Sofia’s neighbor, Pablo, has a dog that barks constantly, and Sofia wants to free it. At a restaurant, Sofia meets Ingrid Bauer, a German seamstress, with whom she goes to the beach. Ingrid and Sofia kiss, but Ingrid leaves to meet her boyfriend, Matthew. Ingrid visits Sofia later that night and says Matthew will retrieve the car. Rose and Sofia get lunch with Gomez, and Rose explains that Sofia’s father, Christos, is Greek; he left Rose and Sofia when Sofia was five years old to start a new family in Greece. A cat scratches Rose’s leg, revealing that she has feeling in her feet, but Sofia and Gomez do not acknowledge it to her. Matthew brings the car but seems to avoid Gomez, after which it is revealed that “quack” was graffitied on the clinic.

Julieta takes case histories of Rose, in which Rose describes her past and illnesses. Sofia discovers that the graffiti describes “sunshine” as “sexy” and doesn’t say “quack,” and “sunshine” is a nickname for Julieta. Ingrid and Sofia grow closer, but Ingrid sometimes tells Sofia she is a “monster.” Sofia swims and gets stung by more medusas, making her visit Juan again, during which he calls her “beautiful.” Sofia struggles to sleep because of the stings, and Ingrid visits to rub ointment on her. Sofia wishes she was bolder, and Gomez recommends stealing a fish. Sofia steals a fish and cooks it for Ingrid, who leaves her for Matthew. Sofia forces Pablo to free his dog, and Juan joins Sofia for dinner, after which they have sex.

Rose and Sofia go to a market and buy a watch, and during the outing Sofia tries to understand her mother better. She reflects on her childhood and concludes that her mother protected her as a child. Sofia and Ingrid meet and hang out with Matthew, who criticizes Gomez, saying that one of Matthew’s clients is a pharmaceutical executive who dislikes Gomez. Gomez takes Rose off all her medication, which he says will free Sofia and Rose together. Sofia meets with Julieta, and Matthew shows up at Julieta’s apartment, making Sofia think Matthew is cheating on Ingrid with Julieta. Sofia and Ingrid have sex, after which Ingrid kills a snake with an axe. They are interrupted by Leonardo, with whom Ingrid flirts, upsetting Sofia. Sofia becomes depressed and decides to go to Greece.

In Greece, Sofia meets her father, Christos, and his wife and infant daughter, Alexandra and Evangeline. Christos had a religious conversion that brought him to Greece, and he is 40 years older than Alexandra. Sofia notes how childlike Alexandra is, but Alexandra explains her job as a mainstream economist. Christos and Alexandra have a calm life, and they nap often. Sofia does not fit into their life, and Christos refuses to help Sofia figure out her own path. Alexandra and Sofia exchange information, and Alexandra says that Christos only acts in his own self-interest, which Sofia thinks she should do as well.

Sofia returns to Almeria and discovers that Rose was hospitalized for dehydration and put back on her medications. Gomez is more interested in Rose’s problem with drinking water than walking, and he tells Sofia that Rose plans to have her feet amputated in England. Ingrid tells Sofia how she injured her younger sister as a child, and she tries to drown Sofia when Sofia steals her cellphone. Julieta confesses that Gomez hates medication, which is why she drinks often. Sofia realizes that Julieta is dependent on Gomez just as she is dependent on Rose, and she notices that Ingrid is trying to avoid her attraction to Sofia.

Rose files a complaint against Gomez, necessitating a meeting with a health official from Barcelona and the executive client of Matthew’s. In the meeting, Gomez insists that he is running a number of tests, including an endoscopy, and Rose jokes with Sofia in Greek. Sofia continues to think about Ingrid, and she continues to have sex with Juan, though she knows they are not in love. She receives an email from Alexandra revealing that Christos intends to leave his money to the church when he dies, rather than to Alexandra and Evangeline. On a hike, Sofia meets Ingrid, who demands Sofia’s shirt in exchange for the gifts she has given Sofia. Sofia is in love with Ingrid and in a lot of physical and mental pain, but she is glad she does not have Alexandra’s life.

Sofia sees Rose walking on the beach and feels betrayed when Rose does not tell her that she can walk. Sofia drives Rose far out of town in her wheelchair, then leaves Rose in the middle of the road. Sofia seeks Gomez’s advice, but Gomez tells Sofia not to let the dead control her. Rose is home when Sofia returns, and she is standing. Rose reluctantly admits that she can walk and agrees to do more things in her own self-interest. Sofia is pleased, but Rose reveals that she has an actual illness that was diagnosed through the endoscopy.