Breathe: A Novel - Softcover

Brasme, Anne-Sophie

3.58

1,701 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312331533 ISBN 13: 9780312331535

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004

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Breathe is the haunting confession of nineteen-year-old Charlene Boher. From her prison cell, Charlene recounts her lonely adolescence. Growing up shy and unpopular, Charlene never had many friends. That is, until she meet Sarah, a beautiful and charismatic American-French girl who moved back to Paris for high school. Much to Charlene's shock and delight, the two girls quickly develop an intense friendship. With Sarah by her side, Charlene finally begins to feel accepted and even loved.

However, after a brief idyllic period, the girls' relationship becomes rocky and friendship veers towards obsession. As Sarah drops Charlene for older, more glamorous friends, Charlene's devotion spirals into hatred. Unfolding slowly and eerily towards a shocking conclusion, Breathe is an intense, convincing portrait of a possessive and ambiguous friendship.

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From the Inside Flap:

Beautifully and simply written with an astonishing maturity, Breathe narrates the story of nineteen-year-old Charlene Boher. From her prison cell, Charlene recounts her past, and tells of a life which began banally enough. As a solitary and unpopular adolescent, she developed an intense friendship with the enigmatic Sarah, and began at last to feel accepted...

After a brief idyllic period however, their relationship sours, and when Charlene falls in love with Maxim, Sarah's manipulative nature is brought to the fore. When the jealous Sarah begins to reproach and humiliate Charlene, the consequences are disastrous and events take a shocking turn.

This is a very frank and convincing account of a possessive and ambiguous friendship.

Anne-Sophie was born in 1984 and is still at school. She lives in Metz and Breathe is her first novel.

From the Back Cover:

My name is Charlene Boher and I'm nineteen years old. I've been stuck here nearly two years now, watching the same day go by. I was barely out of childhood when I committed the irreparable. The night of September 7, two years ago, I killed.

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