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Breathing Lessons
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 12-20-11
- Language: English
- Publisher: Audible Studios
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $24.95
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You are a failed novelist about to turn 50. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: Your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes - it would be too awkward - and you can't say no - it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all.
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For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens.
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Tyler’s first novel, written when she was 22 years old. Ben Joe Hawkes comes from a large, cheerful family of women. But when one of his sisters takes her baby and leaves her husband, everything--including his perceptions of the past--changes.
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Publisher's Summary
Maggie and Ira Moran have been married for 28 years... and it shows: in their quarrels, in their routines, in their ability to tolerate with affection each other's eccentricities. Maggie, a kooky, lovable meddler and an irrepressible optimist, wants nothing more than to fix her son's broken marriage. Ira is infuriatingly practical, a man "who should have married Ann Landers". And what begins as a day trip to a funeral becomes an adventure in the unexpected.
As Maggie and Ira navigate the riotous twists and turns, they intersect with an assorted cast of eccentrics - and rediscover the magic of the road called life and the joy of having somebody next to you to share the ride - bumps and all.
Critic Reviews
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Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars27
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4 Stars28
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3 Stars18
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2 Stars13
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1 Stars9
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars38
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4 Stars21
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3 Stars13
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2 Stars4
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1 Stars8
Story
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars18
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4 Stars24
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3 Stars20
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1 Stars8
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rita
- Anchorage, AK, USA
- 05-01-13
Narration spoiled it for me
Anne Tyler's work is delicate and subtle. Suzanne Toren's narration was so un-subtle it totally destroyed the book. It made the situations and the characters seem absolutely inane. A much better narrator of Anne Tyler's work is Elisabeth Rodgers, whose performance of Earthly Possessions is nuanced, at times ironic. I have been a very active Audible listener for many years, and I can remember only one other book I was unable to finish because of the narrator.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kelly
- Colorado Springs
- 05-31-18
Intimate and Brutal at the same time.
I loved this book. It felt deeply personal and almost intrusive. It felt as though I was the fly on the wall, listening to private conversations and spying on Maggie and Ira. I have not read any books by Tyler before now, and I am so glad to have finally gotten to this one. The writing is languid and intimate. The story is a slow-burn, and the characterization is complex and profound. We only see one day in their lives, but it seems to tell us everything about their marriage. I know Maggie. I know Ira. And, while they are both flawed and often unlikable I still came away from the book liking both of them.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Laura
- Marina del Rey, CA, United States
- 07-24-15
One of my favorite authors
I liked the story and the performance Tyler describes what it means to be human. Often so beautifully written it hurts and is joyful.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Y.
- Waldorf, MD, US
- 05-19-18
Good, but disappointing......
This is the third book I have listened to by this author. I feel like each book the family had a major problem they all deal with in the books. The problem is never resolved... each book the reader is left hanging. The characters are great, but I felt disappointed at the end of each book. I felt like did everything work out or not???
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- Boston, MA, United States
- 01-29-18
Shocked
I expected this to be at the level of accidental tourist. I was shocked this was award winning. Wasted my time reading it.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jason Wilford Neville
- 08-04-16
sometimes less is more
As a character portrait, it was okay. Should've been a short story, not a novel.