Catch Your Breath [Hardcover]

Jessica Auerbach (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 1996

Single mother Rosie Sloan must fight to retain custody of her two-year-old son, a chronic asthmatic, when a neighbor files a complaint claiming that she is an unfit mother, setting off a chain of false assumptions and accusations against her. 17,500 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a premise similar to that of her last novel, Sleep, Baby, Sleep, a mother plunged into dire legal trouble over her alleged mistreatment of her young child is at the center of Auerbach's harrowing new one. Here, it's charges of child neglect and abuse, not of kidnapping, that face Rosie Sloan, who's separated from her husband, police officer Quinn. The diagnosis of their son, Jason, as an asthmatic and the attacks that send him to the local ER have recently brought the couple back into each other's lives. But Quinn has a new, young girlfriend, Diana, while Rosie is dating the ER doctor who treats Jason. The plot thickens when someone?whose identity is shielded by law?makes a claim to the Department of Children and Families that Rosie neglects Jason. A smug social worker inexplicably agrees that the charge is warranted, and so Rosie must go to court, all the while wondering whether Quinn or Diana, or both, instigated her troubles. During the proceedings, the court takes Jason away from Rosie, forbidding all contact, placing the child first with Quinn and then in a foster family after Quinn allows Rosie to see the boy. Rosie's ER paramour, meanwhile, seems unconcerned about Jason's deteriorating health. Throughout, readers are treated to an intricate and intriguing tour of family law at its most unjust and, when Rosie puts all the pieces together, to a paranoid scenario worthy of Oliver Stone. The highwire-walking plot eventually falls off line, but Auerbach's urgent prose keeps the entertainment from flagging even then. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternate selections; TV rights optioned by Citadel Entertainment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Auerbach, author of TV-movie fodder Sleep, Baby, Sleep (LJ 6/1/94) and two other novels, wades into familiar territory with this gripping thriller already optioned for television and ripped straight from today's headlines. It's the story of a woman whose asthmatic two-year-old is removed from her care after she's accused of acting under "Munchausen's syndrome by proxy," an unusual psychological disorder manifested by a parent's inducing illness in his or her own child in order to gain sympathy. A fiercely devoted mother, she is forced into fighting an intractable bureaucracy?not only to clear her name and get her son back but to save his life. Auerbach masterfully captures the many legal and medical nuances and proves adept at sustaining the suspense. Highly recommended.?David Sowd, formerly with Stark Cty. Dist. Lib., Canton, Ohio
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (July 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399141669
• ISBN-13: 978-0399141669
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,900,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Check it out at the library like I did, March 14, 2002

By 

Alycia (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Catch Your Breath (Mass Market Paperback)

I couldn't identify with the main character, Rosie. The author only described superficial details about her, and gave no insight into the death of her infant daughter, so to me, it really seemed like she was being ridiculous and hypervigilant about her son. I couldn't get upset over the way she was treated, because I agreed with everyone else that she was suspicious. Then there was that predictable ending. This book exemplifies why I usually don't like "who done it" stories. The author tries to throw you off track and drag things out until the end, only within the last few pages to find a quick and implausible ending. I saw no real reason for the "bad guy/girl" to do what he/she did, but I knew all along it was him/her. In books like this, the bad person is always the one who seems too much like the good person. If you like this sort of thing, go for it. I didn't enjoy it much.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rather boring, January 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Catch Your Breath (Mass Market Paperback)

I didn't like this book at all. I thought it was boring. I think I'm supposed to feel sorry for the woman but I don't. I only felt put off by the details of her thoughts and emotions, and just forced myself to finish the whole thing. The ending was also predictable.