Catherine's review
The Air We Breathe: A Novel
by Andrea Barrett
Catherine, I'd love a review of this when you're done, since I loved her stories.
Catherine's review
The Air We Breathe: A Novel by Andrea Barrett
Catherine's review
rating:
I’ve loved Andrea Barrett’s previous stories and novels, and I really wanted to love this novel, too. The premise, a collective narration of life at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the Adirondacks in 1916, seemed promising and intriguing. But the novel never took off for me and was heavily expositional. The characters felt two-dimensional, and seemed to exist at the service of the research and historical facts, instead of the other way around. And while the collective “we” narration is interesting and different, it kept me at a distance from the characters, so that I was never really sure of what was at stake, or why I should care. The writing is lovely in many parts, but sadly, I would recommend any of Barrett’s other works before this one.
Catherine, I'd love a review of this when you're done, since I loved her stories.
