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

3.0

It was ok but not one of my favorites. The novel centered on a female friendship between a sugar baron’s daughter, Graca, and an orphaned kitchen maid, Dores, who becomes her companion. The two run off in their early teens to become singers on the radio. Along the way, they help reinvent/invigorate Samba style music in Brazil. Although the novel is told from Dores’s perspective, Graca seems to be the sun around which all of the other characters revolve. I found it hard to like or be sympathetic to Graca. She was over the top in terms of selfishness and self-absorption, but at the same time exceedingly troubled and insecure. The novel focuses on themes of love, friendship, envy, pride, and greed. It also brings to life a shadier but more culturally vibrant neighborhood of Rio in the early 1900s. A cool drink and some Samba music will go a long way in helping appreciate this book as you read it.