The Air We Breathe (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series) - Hardcover

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

'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