Fiction Review: The Air You Breathe

Book By Book

I finished my 5^th Big Book of the summer, The Air You Breathe by Frances De Pontes Peebles and really enjoyed it. It’s historical fiction set in Brazil, beginning in the 1930’s, about an intense relationship between two women and the music they shared.

The women first meet as nine-year-old girls from very different backgrounds in rural Brazil. Gracas is the “Little Miss” of a sugar plantation. Her family has just moved there to take over the plantation, and she has been brought up in a wealthy, pampered environment. Dores is a kitchen girl, an orphan widely considered among the other servants as the lowest among them, who has never known love, affection, or the freedom of childhood play. Gracas is soon bored at the plantation and intrigued by the other girl her own age, so she demands that Dores play with her. Her mother acquiesces and allows Dores time away from the kitchen. The two girls become fast friends, running around the plantation together. When Gracas’ mother takes them to a concert and buys a record player, they both become enamored with music and dream of becoming famous singers on the radio. As teens, they run away to Rio together to make their dreams come true. The novel moves back and forth from the present, when Dores is an elderly woman, to her retelling the story of their past. In Rio and beyond, the girls face one challenge after another together, though it is hard for them to ever shed their original roles.

This is a warm, moving story encompassing both pain and joy as the girls chase their dreams. History, race, and class are a part of the story, but music is at the center of it. I wished I were listening on audio, with all of the music included (I don’t think it is)! Interspersed between chapters are song lyrics that are relevant, helping to tell the story of not just the music they were creating but their lives at the time. The Brazilian music, culture, and history also underlie their story, and I thoroughly enjoyed losing myself in this unfamiliar world. This novel was quite tragic, but it included many instances of pure joy and delight from the happiness they found in making music together. The Air You Breathe is a unique, beautifully written story of complicated friendship, music, and love.

449 pages, Riverhead Books

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

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