Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Breathless by Jessica Warman 311 pages

Katie leaves for boarding school when her older brother Will is institutionalized for his increasingly psychotic actions and attempted suicide. Although their father is a noted psychiatrist, he seems unable to help his son's struggles with schizophrenia. Their mother, a successful artist had created a nurturing, idyllic childhood for her two children that ended when they moved from their secluded cottage to the richest mansion in a small blue collar town in Pennsylvania. Mom turns to alcohol and seems unable to relate to either child. Katie's only talent and ticket to Yale is her gift at swimming. She effortlessly seems to beat all competitions despite smoking, drugs and alcohol.
At the exclusive new school, Katie finds a soul mate, Massie, her mysterious roommate as well as easy acceptance by the in-crowd. Everyone has some kind of mental baggage and none of the adults are helpful. This is rather bleak stuff, but the characters are interesting and the ending is not sugar coated.

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