Set on a farm in the Eastern Cape, and taking place over one day, the novel is a wrought meditation on motherhood and our destructive relationship to the Earth. A former geneticist, Kate is now an award-winning maker of organic cheese. She relies on the farm's routine to hold steady as her day teeters on a knife's edge: her estranged daughter is in London, waiting for her conjoined twins to survive surgery. Meanwhile, Kate's employee Nosisi's son is undergoing a rite of passage. Forbidden to have contact with him during this traditional passage into the world of manhood she anxiously awaits his return. Breaking Milk is an evocative exploration of motherhood at the crossroads of the South African landscape, environment and science.