Milkman follows the life of an 18-year-old girl living in Northern Ireland (most likely Belfast I think) during the troubles. The girl, who remains unnamed, is like many of her time and her life has been touched multiple times by the tragedies and horror that came with the Troubles and her life is ruled on both sides - the IRA and the state police.

The narrative style of this was very interesting and I really loved it, and I found myself very drawn to particular characters and wanting them to appear in the story more. I will say that this book is very exhausting to read. I found myself really having to concentrate on the story and because there are a lot of long sentences, and the narrator jumps between story threads and reminiscing so often, if you get distracted by something for a couple of seconds, I found myself having to reread parts because I wouldn't know what she talking about then.

The portrayal of life as an ordinary person with no particular political affiliation during the Troubles was done really well here. It was obvious the tip toed line everyone had to walk down constantly - always afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing lest either side came down upon them. The neighborhood are all there for one another but equally are quick to judge and pry their noses into everyone's business, and spread stories that are unverified and untrue.

This book mostly made me feel uncomfortable which wasn't a particularly nice feeling but it was a strong feeling, and I feel like that was a plus for the book. The majority of the story is about this girl being stalked by the Milkman - who is 41 years of age to her 18 years. We hear as readers again and again, the stress and anxiety the narrator feels because of this obsession the Milkman has about her and how no-one is believing her when she says that the relationship they are purportedly having is not so. It's a horror situation for a victim, and I don't think that was swept aside by the author. It was clear that this situation wasn't 'right' but it didn't mean it was going to be magically fixed up by anyone.

There were a lot of communication mix-ups and difficulties in this story too which often made it annoying to read. I wanted to shake the girl and make her scream her emotions out to everyone but that's not real life either.

This is a book that I don't really know exactly how to review and what I really think of it, and it's one I will have to mull over and discuss with people for some time.