review
This highly contemporary satire by seasoned novelist Clemens Berger reads like an episode of ‘Black Mirror’, with capitalists and protesters facing off in an ethical war over the monetisation of breastmilk.
When the supply of breastmilk goes into crisis, entrepreneurial Clarissa, CEO of the ‘House of Liquid Gold’ company, hits the jackpot. Her business concept is to source women willing to sell their milk, pit lactating mothers against each other, and ship to the highest bidder. Performance determines the women’s pay and is visualised on a real-time electronic leaderboard: she who sells the most breastmilk tops the chart.
Employee Maya, who is financially dependent on selling her breastmilk, is thrust into the limelight when protestors use an emaciated baby as part of their campaign during a demonstration outside the company. Instinctively, Maya picks up the child and nurses it. Although she is immediately fired as a result, she finds herself catapulted to fame and feted as a social media icon, sought after by celebrities and a variety of organisations.
Peter, an investigative journalist who has published reports about Clarissa’s company, seems to be on Maya’s side. The two met in the park a year earlier while looking after their young children. In fact, Peter even put Maya in touch with the House of Liquid Gold to begin with, and became her first customer, explaining that his wife Esther was having difficulty expressing her own breastmilk. But this is far from the truth. Peter has actually been throwing away Esther’s breastmilk, believing that she might pass on her delicate state of health to their son Benjamin. The betrayal is only revealed when Esther and Maya both appear on a TV show, triggering a backlash against Maya that is manipulated by false stories in the media.
Twists and turns in this story, which spans just ten days, are revealed strategically, mirroring Maya’s anger and confusion as she gradually discovers the truth. It is as if we are reading excerpts taken from Maya’s diary – with some characters, like Clarissa, first appearing as cyphers. The ‘diary entries’ are interspersed with media reports focussing on the main characters. Short chapters – sixty-seven in all – keep up the pace as the mystery unfolds.
A timely satire that highlights not only the commodification of human bodily fluids and corporate ethical abuse but also the fickle nature of fame in today’s social media culture.
Find out more: https://www.residenzverlag.com/en/buch/house-of-liquid-gold
All recommendations from Spring 2025