A review by akingston5
The Air You Breathe by Frances de Pontes Peebles
“We are all beautiful in our youth. And we are all forgiven.”
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“Shopgirls, good-time girls, cleaning girls, cigarette girls, errand girls, candy girls, showgirls, butterfly girls, and girls like Graça and me, who refused to be anything but ourselves. This is, of course, the most dangerous thing any girl can be.”
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Dores begins life as a servant on a Brazilian sugar cane plantation to the “little miss” — Graça— and we follow their journey through the birth of samba in 1920s Brazil. The story is beautifully written with a coming of age/star-rising story set in a unique backdrop, even if we do know what’s coming the entire time. While it’s not my favorite, I get all the buzz about it and it’s definitely worth a read!
•••
“Shopgirls, good-time girls, cleaning girls, cigarette girls, errand girls, candy girls, showgirls, butterfly girls, and girls like Graça and me, who refused to be anything but ourselves. This is, of course, the most dangerous thing any girl can be.”
•••
Dores begins life as a servant on a Brazilian sugar cane plantation to the “little miss” — Graça— and we follow their journey through the birth of samba in 1920s Brazil. The story is beautifully written with a coming of age/star-rising story set in a unique backdrop, even if we do know what’s coming the entire time. While it’s not my favorite, I get all the buzz about it and it’s definitely worth a read!