Breathing Room
By Patricia Elam
(Washington Square Press, Paperback, 9780671028435, 352pp.)
Publication Date: January 2, 2002
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook
Categories: Romance - Adult
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In her dazzling debut novel, award-winning author Patricia Elam takes us into the lives of two completely different women whose friendship has helped them weather just about everything. But now they're at a crossroads where understanding may not be enough -- a place where they must risk it all to rediscover what they cherish most.
Photographer Norma Simmons-Greer has a loving husband, a lively young son, and an upper-middle-class lifestyle. Probation officer Moxie Dilliard is as dedicated to her ideals as she is to her talented teenage daughter, Zadi. Best friends after meeting in college, Norma and Moxie are each other's reality check and reassurance.
But suddenly the bond between them begins to unravel in unexpected ways. Anguished over the loss of her second child and her husband's recent withdrawal, Norma takes refuge in a complex love affair that puts her at odds with Moxie -- and with herself. Haunted by her beloved mother's inspiring yet disturbing emotional legacy, Moxie struggles to understand her friend, while her own refusal to compromise threatens to shatter her relationship with Zadi. And a devastating crisis will challenge both women to face the hardest of truths.
With insight, humor, and heartbreaking immediacy, Patricia Elam presents a beautifully written portrait of two unforgettable women, and the teenager they both cherish, as they negotiate the ever-shifting terrain of friendship and identity. A wise, tender novel of what love can and cannot survive, Breathing Room is also an exploration of how the past can at once inspire and limit us, and of the pain -- and promise -- that accompany us on the journey we all share.
Patricia Elam is a freelance writer and commentator. Her Þction and nonÞction writings have been published in The Washington Post, Essence, Emerge, Newsday, and in such anthologies as Father's Songs and New Stories from the South. A winner of the O. Henry Award, she has been a commentator for National Public Radio, NBC News, CNN, and the BBC. Visit her Web site at www.patriciaelam.com.
Marita Golden author of The Edge of Heaven Patricia Elam, a natural born storyteller, writes about the way we live now -- our heartaches, contradictions, and small triumphs. Her characters are women to root for. You'll end up loving all of them way too much to look away.
Matthew Klam author of Sam the Cat Patricia Elam, with grace, shares the hurricane forces tearing through two women's lives in this quietly merciful, grueling debut novel. Breathing Room had me riveted from the first page. I cried at the end, exhausted.
Howard Norman author of The Bird Artist and The Museum Guard Patricia Elam has a beautiful talent for humanity. In her impressive debut novel, each and every one of her primary characters is absolutely memorable. Elam writes about the heartbreak and triumphs, the unforeseen dramas and rewards of raising children in urban America with a pointillist's eye for detail, and enormous heart and passion. This may be a first novel, but it reads like this wonderful writer has been living a life of large and turbulent and searching emotion for a hundred years! Elam writes about love with sadness, savvy, and elegance -- this is a very sexy, bold, and wise novel!
Jervey Tervalon author of Dead Above Ground Patricia Elam's Breathing Room is a novel of family, friendship, and love. Norma, Zadi, and Moxie resonate fictionally because their lives ring true to the reader as they struggle to navigate uncharted waters of love and family. Breathing Room is a novel that finds drama in the real lives of women struggling to make difficult choices and succeeds wonderfully because of its breathtaking honesty.
Sindiwe Magona author of Our Children's Children It is difficult to conceive that this is Patricia Elam's first novel, as she has given us an amazing tapestry of modern life. Her characters pull you into their lives, becoming as real as some of your relatives, neighbors, or colleagues. Breathing Room is a delightful and intense read.
E. Lynn Harris New York Times bestselling author This wonderful novel is emotionally rich and painfully powerful. It lovingly conveys the elements that hold women's friendships together.
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