Land of Milk and Honey

A Novel

By: C Pam Zhang

Narrated by: Eunice Wong

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

Finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Award
Longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize
Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, HARPER'S BAZAAR, TOWN & COUNTRY, KIRKUS REVIEWS, ESQUIRE, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN AND MORE!

“One of the most pleasurable, inventive reads of the year… fiendishly, deliciously fun."—San Francisco Chronicle

"A profound exploration of human nature, the allure of pleasure and the choices we make in the face of adversity.”—NPR, "Books We Love"

“It’s rare to read anything that feels this unique.” –GABRIELLE ZEVIN, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

"Land of Milk and Honey is truly exceptional."–ROXANE GAY, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist

“A sharp, sensual piece of art.”–RAVEN LEILANI, New York Times bestselling author of Luster

The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world

A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles.

There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body.

In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.

Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.

©2023 C Pam Zhang (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Dwells with keen intelligence and rich insight at this nexus of food, pleasure, privilege and catastrophe, offering a mouthful of nectar that tastes faintly of blood.” —The New York Times

"Gloriously lush. Zhang's sensuous style makes us see, smell and, above all, taste the lure of that sun-dappled mountain enclave. . . An atmospheric and poetically suspenseful novel about all manner of appetites: for power, food, love, life."—NPR/Fresh Air

“Haunting. . .[Foodies] will find Land of Milk and Honey a gourmand’s dream. . .tense, unnerving and creepy. . .an extremely atmospheric novel about the interplay of environmental destruction and class. The bittersweet aftertaste will leave you considering what you’d be willing to do — or resist doing — to experience the most essential pleasure.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

Sublime

Deliciously salt sweet sour sublime. I will devour this poem/story again again again and again

Delicious performance and story

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to when I first started it. The second half of the story and the exquisite writing hooked me. The narrator is incredible — she does the poetic writing justice with her tone and cadence.

Drew me in

At first, I was not interested in the story but kept at it. I am glad I did. The story is fascinating, creative, and well worth the read. Also, the narrator is excellent.

Gorgeous

Beautifully written and performed! The narrator was wonderful. This book will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommend.

Unexpected, thought provoking, and enjoyable

At first, I thought I’d hate this book and hate the narrator. I thought may be I was ruled by my preconceived expectations of a formulaic Asian-themed novel. This was not at all what I expected. The language is poetic and intriguing. The story is dystopian but not implausible. The issues of climate and bio discoveries very real. The food processing and science behind manipulating textures, tastes, flavors, mouth-feels, smells - these were imaginative and compelling. I thought I’d hate the characters, even the cat. But the author injected them with a realistic humanity that reaches out and touches beyond the psychoanalysis.

Unlike any book I’ve ever read

Narrator perfectly executes this achingly beautiful futuristic story where food, love, ethics and survival collide.

Not What I Expected

This was a story that started with echos of Soylent Green but then went off in a completely unexpected and thought provoking direction. Well worth the read.

Poetic, Unsettling, and Beautiful

A beautifully written piece of speculative fiction. The dystopian future Zhang creates seems all too possible. And through all of that darkness and pain and evolution and human triumph, she gives the reader an endearing story of unconditional love.

meh

not the best story, I didn't connect with the metaphors and I didn't love the narration.

Funny World these characters inhabit.

lots of food for thought...literally...the story is an homage to good food and the language of food also tells the story. A good story for sure.