The Air We Breathe: A Novel - Hardcover

Barrett, Andrea

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393061086 ISBN 13: 9780393061086

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2007

Synopsis

The exquisite, much-anticipated new novel by the author of Ship Fever, winner of the National Book Award.

In fall 1916, Americans debate whether to enter the European war. "Preparedness parades" march and headlines report German spies. But in an isolated community in the Adirondacks, the danger is barely felt. At Tamarack Lake the focus is on the sick. Wealthy tubercular patients live in private cure cottages; charity patients, mainly immigrants, fill the large public sanatorium. For all, time stands still. Prisoners of routine and yearning for absent families, the patients, including the newly arrived Leo Marburg, take solace in gossip, rumor, and―sometimes―secret attachments.An enterprising patient initiates a weekly discussion group. When his well-meaning efforts lead instead to a tragic accident and a terrible betrayal, the war comes home, bringing with it a surge of anti-immigrant prejudice and vigilante sentiment. The conjunction of thwarted desires and political tension binds the patients so deeply that, finally, they speak about what's happened in a single voice.The Air We Breathe, though entirely self-contained, extends the web of connected characters begun with Ship Fever.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

In the autumn of 1916, Americans are debating whether to enter the first world war. There are 'preparedness parades', and headlines report German spies. But in an isolated community in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, the danger is barely felt. At Tamarack Lake the focus is on the sick. Wealthy tubercular patients live in private cure cottages; charity patients, many of them recent immigrants from Europe, fill the sanatorium.

Her, in the crisp air, time stands still. Prisoners of routine and yearning for absent families, the inmates, including the newly arrived Leo Marburg, take solace in gossip, rumour and secret attachments.

An enterprising patient initiates a weekly discussion group. When his well-meaning efforts lead instead to tragedy and betrayal, the war comes home, bringing with it a surge of anti-immigrant prejudice and vigilante sentiment. Andrea Barrett pits power and privilege against unrest and thwarted desire, in a spellbinding tale of individual lives in a nation on the verge of extraordinary change

Praise for The Air We Breathe: "Andrea Barrett is in a class by herself. A near-perfect equipoise between smooth storytelling and the suggestion of larger truths" Newsday

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Ship Fever:

'Elegant and exhilarating, subtle and haunting. Barrett has an alchemists's talent for transforming scientific fact into lively fiction' Sunday Times

'An exceptionally stylish book, stylish in the true sense' Penelope Fitzgerald

'Wise, beautifully written and full of historical insights' Marie Claire

'Barrett's mingling of the real with the fictitious is persuasive, and her unique world view is delivered in prose that is spare, precise and evocative' Independent on Sunday

'Stands out for its sheer intelligence, its painstaking attempt to discern and describe the world's configuration. The overall effect is quietly dazzling' New York Times

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0393061086
• ISBN 13: 9780393061086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320