A review by foggy_rosamund
Something Like Breathing by Angela Readman

3.0

Readman has a compelling, sensitive prose style that captures the attention and keeps this story flowing. Set in the late 50s and early 60s on an unnamed Scottish island, the novel focuses on Lorrie and Sylvie, neighbouring children. Lorrie is brave, happy to fit in and to make friends, while Sylvia is shy and struggles with an overbearing and censorious mother. I enjoyed reading this, but it's not a story with many incidents, and at the end I was left with a feeling of, "So what?" I wish it succeeded better in aspects other than the prose style: if only one of the main characters was given proper depth; if only the portrait of the island felt real and lived in; if only Readman achieved a sense of tension or resolution. That being said, I would read more of her work.