Customer Reviews

Getting Our Breath Back

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Shawne Johnson has written a complex and compelling story of three sisters. As the stories of the lives of Violet, Lilly, and Rose emerge I found myself deeply engrossed in this engaging tale. Violet has what appears to be a perfect family life, but no matter how much energy she puts in to appearances she cannot mask the deep unhappiness that resides in her heart as a result of her less than perfect marriage. Lilly is still a little stuck in the Black Power Movement but lost in a cesspool of drug abuse. She uses drugs to help numb realities that are too difficult for her to face, but loses herself in the process. Rose is a politically conscious woman who is a successful artist and single mother. She carries the deep wounds of her past in the form of a secret that seemingly make her current political views and the manner in which she is raising her daughter hypocritical. As Johnson weaves this intricate tale, each of these women discover that they cannot hide from what is real and are forced to deal with their pasts and shed their masks.

Johnsons writing is reminiscent of authors who write with a more literary flair. In between revealing chapters about the lives of the respective characters she intersperses chapters which are referred to as Studio Time. In these passages the author juxtaposes Roses artwork with the events that have just taken place and the result at times will leave you breathless. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be a refreshing change. The strong themes of sisterhood and redemption were well executed. My only disappointment was in the ending, which I felt was a little rushed and lacked in closure.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I liked this book. It was a very well written kind of love story, that also addressed racial issues in this country. loved the way it was written.

A lovely book. The style is different, lyrical. The book almost reads like poetry. The story of three sisters living and learning through through the Civil Rights period is both compelling and interesting. The story is good, but what I really liked about this book was the way it was written. Very intense.

In Getting Our Breath Back Shawne Johnson has sculpted a sensual and raw narrative, with a prose that reads like a mantra seeped in organic imagery and sexuality. As the plot unfolds Johnson chisels and carves away aspects of the characters lives, allowing the reader to better understand the women who inhabit this breathtakingly beautiful debut novel.

Masterfully weaving in-and-out of major themes like racism, sexism, family, death, and sexuality, Johnson is never preachy. She chooses the turbulent sixties and early seventies, heavy with the residue of revolution, free love, and the Black Panther movement as the perfect backdrop to the narrative. This is a novel about pain and women and struggle and growth.

The recurring motifs and rhythmic language make this book read more like a poem or a song then a novel.

The debut novel, Getting Our Breath Back by author Shawne Johnson brilliantly portrays the bond sisters share. Set in the turbulent era of the 60s and 70s, it centers around three sisters who are deeply affected, in different ways by the death of their father.

Rose, the youngest sister is the central character; she makes her living carving images of women out of wood and stone. Having grown up in a house full of women and having a daughter herself, she is very familiar with the essence of femininity. A relationship from her past leaves her afraid to get close to any other man. And a secret kept from her child will eventually affect their relationship.

Lilly is the middle sister. She's the pretty one that everyone likes. An ex-Black Panther and poet, Lilly hides from reality in her drug induced world. After the death of her father and several prominent black male figures of the Civil Rights Movement, she can no longer depend and trust in the reality of a strong black man. She escapes to her own world where she can continue to live her childhood.

Violet is the oldest of the three sisters. After the death of their father, she constantly searches for love and affection from men. She is the perfect wife to her husband and mother to her sons. Her devotion to them requires that she maintain an immaculate home as well as a flawless appearance. Even with all of this she is not able to satisfy her philandering husband. Each sister experiences situations, which cause her to confront the obstacles they each face.

When I first started reading, I was turned off by the author's overuse of the word "and." The more I read, I began to pick on up her cadence and 'was able' to flow with her rhythmic prose. Johnson's descriptive imagery is very colorful when painting a scene. The reader is drawn into the atmosphere, complete with the images and scents Johnson describes. This is excellent writing for a debut author. I've already picked up her second novel, Eden Ohio.

Reviewed by Paula Henderson of Loose Leaves Book Review

Getting Our Breath Back is a beautiful story of three sisters dealing with the evolutionary differences in our world. Their spirits are connected soulfully throught their blood lines, but they are individuals in their own right, seeking to fit in and find their own space in life, to compliment the values important to each of them.

There is a strong sense of family pride and the typical struggles presented in African American families, which have strong female leaders dealing with societal changes; in a transition from the 60's to the 70's. My favorite character is Lilly, which you will have to read and understand why she was a heroic sister to bond with, in my opinion.

Overall, it reminded me of "Waiting To Exhale" without the exaggerated need to be identified through a man.

This is a definite readers choice and will be enjoyed by all.
Rene Reyes
MBC/2004

I recall reading this a while ago; I don't remember a lot about this book, but I do remember it being very difficult to get through. The language was very different. You had to really think about what the writer was attempting to express which made the flow of the story tough at best. I guess it could be called literary, which I tend to stay away from because I rarely get anything out of those types of works.

While I applaud the writer for being different in that she uses unusual techniques to get across her message, it is imperative that a reader be able to understand the story, or else they are not going to be edified. Just write with simplicity and effectivness and hopefully it will make things go a whole lot easier.