A review by chrissycracksabook
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles

4.0

This is a powerfully and beautifully written novel about the unexpected friendship between a Sugar Cane Plantation Owner's daughter and one of the servants. The friendship, relationship, and life that Dores and Graza share is so eloquently written. From their preteen years through Graza's untimely death in their late twenties. These two have quite the amazing life. Several other amazing and unique characters play roles in this story. I truly enjoyed learning about Samba and life in Brazil. Life in Hollywood for a foreign star also seemed quite interesting in the time. Told from Dores's point of view in her old age, this book is like a beautiful memory. Dores spares nothing in her recounting of her and Graza's life. We see the good, the bad, and the frowned upon things that these girls did. They lived incredible lives.