The Air You Breathe

A Novel

By: Frances de Pontes Peebles

Narrated by: Rebecca Mozo

Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

"[A] glorious, glittery saga of friendship and loss.... I read The Air You Breathe in two nights. (One might say I inhaled it.)." (NPR)

"Echoes of Elena Ferrante resound in this sumptuous saga." (O, The Oprah Magazine)

"Enveloping...Peebles understands the shifting currents of female friendship, and she writes so vividly about samba that you close the book certain its heroine's voices must exist beyond the page." (People)

The story of an intense female friendship fueled by affection, envy and pride - and each woman's fear that she would be nothing without the other.

Some friendships, like romance, have the feeling of fate.

Skinny, nine-year-old orphaned Dores is working in the kitchen of a sugar plantation in 1930s Brazil when in walks a girl who changes everything. Graça, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy sugar baron, is clever, well fed, pretty, and thrillingly ill behaved. Born to wildly different worlds, Dores and Graça quickly bond over shared mischief, and then, on a deeper level, over music. One has a voice like a songbird; the other feels melodies in her soul and composes lyrics to match. Music will become their shared passion, the source of their partnership and their rivalry, and, for each, the only way out of the life to which each was born. But only one of the two is destined to be a star. Their intimate, volatile bond will determine each of their fortunes - and haunt their memories.

Traveling from Brazil's inland sugar plantations to the rowdy streets of Rio de Janeiro's famous Lapa neighborhood, from Los Angeles during the Golden Age of Hollywood back to the irresistible drumbeat of home, The Air You Breathe unfurls a moving portrait of a lifelong friendship - its unparalleled rewards and lasting losses - and considers what we owe to the relationships that shape our lives.

©2018 Frances de Pontes Peebles (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[A] glorious, glittery saga of friendship and loss.... Along the way [the two main characters] acquire...total interconnectedness, the likes of which I last found in Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.... I read The Air You Breathe in two nights. (One might say I inhaled it.).... The Air You Breathe is genuinely exciting to watch." (NPR)

"Gorgeous.... Peebles captures the complexity of these two women forever linked by their early bonds, and she vivifies their colorful times and the nuances in their relationship as it evolves over the decades." (The National Book Review)

“Peebles presents a captivating...portrait of friendship...[the book’s] reflections on love, music, envy, and loyalty ache with feeling, and a hint of mystery surrounding the central relationship’s dissolution will keep readers intrigued until the end.” (Publishers Weekly)

outstanding tale of love and friendship

this book is beautiful, lyrical, hunting, and compelling. one of the real treats was having the lyrics at the beginning of each section and then allowing the story to unfold from those lyrics.

A happy surprise

I was casting about for historical fiction from South America, and this title popped up. The plot moves around in time from the 1920'2-1940's, eventually landing later in the century in Brazil and the US. There is much to learn of music and history, which are two of my passions. The story is presented by its narrator, and the reader's performance is excellent.
This is a book that grabbed me from its beginning. (If you are queasy about non-binary people, then this isn't for you. It's not offensive or salacious, but it is part of the plot.) The two main characters are from opposite ends of the economic spectrum who leave their city of origin to make music together. There are adventures to be had and psychologies to explore. The supporting characters are equally as intriguing.
There are many books I listen to that turn out just to be background entertainment, but this one sucked me in, and I found myself making more time for it and staying up way too late to finish it. The author has written only one other book; I wish she'd write some more.

Read like a memoir

Gripping saga of the enduring, mostly painful and definitely hard to watch friendship between two women. Beginning in Brazil in the 30’s, one woman is a rich sugar baron’s daughter, and the other is a servant. Their lives are fraught with struggles. Struggles to be loved. To belong. To be seen. And heard. And wanted. They love one another, are jealous of one another and cannot live without the other.
We follow their lives as one becomes a famous samba singer and the other is behind the scenes. The stories of samba and the people who made it what it became are so realistic that several times I stopped to Google the characters to see if they were real.
Heartbreaking, gut wrenching and filled with grit. Definitely worth a read.

moving and heartfelt

beautifully written. you can hear the music as you listen to the writers
words.

Speed up narration and enjoy much more

The reader over-emphasizes every line so that each note is high drama. She improves markedly about half way through. But I also discovered that putting the narration on 1.5 speed worked to decrease the melodrama somehow. Kind of amazing actually. Once the speed went up, the dramatic pauses quit wrecking a wonderfully complex story of love and art.

An achingly raw journey

An achingly raw journey as we follow Gracia and Dor from childhood into women. De Pontes Peebles literally gives them voice. She also explores the relentless presence people can have in your life long after they have passed. This book begs to be made into a movie, as Samba is a main character and needs to be heard. The narrator is perfect.Her voice was like music, and her performance enhanced the rawness and power of the story.

Fiction...non-fiction

I originally enjoyed this book thoroughly although I found it to be too long. Upon further understanding I ended up getting extremely frustrated. What should have been fiction is loosely based on Carmen Miranda's life. She creates these characters based off real people. If you wanted to create a fictional character like Doris, why alter the facts on Miranda's life? By using so many real details she just made me irrate to have to then research about the real person. The 3 main characters are based on real people. Names of bands and things that happened are just altered.. Leaving you with inaccurate information.

Wonderfully written and narrated!

As I listened to this wonderful book I was transformed to another century in another culture. The story was interesting, uncomfortable, happy and tragic. What more could a reader want? I did want one more thing—to hear the songs sung instead of the words spoken. That would have been the icing on a memorable cake. Brava Ms. de Pontes Peebles and Ms. Mozo!!!

Poetic, Historical & Flavor

This was a great novel. The narrator was perfect for this book as she had the flavor to match the flavor of the Samba that echoed throughout the story. A+++

worth it

beautifully written, inspired perhaps by Carmem Miranda' s trajectory with 2 very non sympathetic female characters, hard to get attached or rule for any of them. Vinicius, their male counterpart is lovable for many reasons. great reading.