Customer Reviews

Learning to Breathe

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

White's placid story of five sisters that live in Indianola, Louisiana centers around the youngest sister, Brenna O'Brien, whose sisters hover around her like mayflies, trying to get her married off at thirty-three.

O'Brien's story is compelling and right away you feel like you know her, understand her situation and respect and care about her sisters just as much as she does. But setting up dates for her comes to an end when Pierce McGovern comes to town. He's her old sweetheart from high school and both had their hearts torn asunder by O'Brien's controlling father.

O'Brien, a Catholic, believes in the Saints and wears them on her neck for protection, guidance and security. She goes from St. Jude, to St. Eustace, to St. Genevieve. She tells McGovern, "Don't you think that things always happen the way they're supposed to?

That we're merely pawns in God's plan and that we always end up where we're supposed to? Maybe we didn't love each other enough and that's why we aren't together now. Maybe what happened then was easier for us to handle than if we'd gotten married and discovered too late that what we felt for each other wasn't enough?"

But McGovern and O'Brien soon learn that man's hand is sometimes involved in God's destiny.

Nathan Conley is also a new man in town, and there is a certain quality to him that McGovern and O'Brien recognize. O'Brien's love of old unopened letters from the Wars is put to the test when a box for McGovern's retired physician father is found in the old post office. Dr. McGovern asks O'Brien to read them to him. She finds herself caught in a web of love, deceit, and tragedy--a poignant love story where the future holds promise even though the past is sometimes still bigger than life filled by O'Brien's dead father, the old postmaster.

Highly recommended, especially for the descriptions of old architecture and the high drama of a mystery tale.

Armchair Interviews says: A wonderful tale of romance, sisterly love and community.

A novel dealing with tragic loss, Learning to Breathe is a path to survival and triumphant life. Author, Karen White, shows the way out of tragedy and into the mainstream of feeling and being again. A perfect gift for one who has had a tragic loss, and a great gift to those who have not. Understnding those who suffer extreme tragedy, and supporting them, is not easy at all. This book gives a glimpse at both sides of the issue. You'll be glad you read it.

Since I've found Karen White's books I've wanted to read them all. As I picked this one up I wondered if there wasn't going to be any sort of mystery in it like her other books. I don't feel it was as mysterious as, say, On Folly Beach, but I do think Learning to Breathe had it's own charm to me.

I didn't really get into it at first and thought I would have to force myself to finish it because I had gotten two more books in the mail and had wanted to read them so badly but when the letters started to get read aloud, I found what I was looking for in this book I think.

The main character is Brenna O'Brien, who has her heart in a box of steel so it seems. She's constantly set up on horrible dates by her four older sisters who just want her to get married already. When a man she used to date (Pierce McGovern) comes back into town she is very hurt because she felt he never answered her calls or her letters.

Pierce is back in town to move his aging father into a nursing home. Due to certain events (not having a room big enough being the first) Pierce stays around to help his father.

As the old post office the girls' father used to work for goes down, they find a metal box full of old letters to Pierce's father, sent from a "Me". And to me that was where the story really picked up. It's amazing the parallels between Me and Andrew, and Brenna and Pierce. It's not hard to figure out what happened if you really think about it.

The ruin of a once beautiful theater, the abandonment of a mother, an unknown half-brother, and the death of a tired old soldier with the heart of a poet really tied the book together. I haven't cried over one of Karen's books like I did this one since reading The Lost Hours.

As usual I loved her character work. I could find no one I really disliked as a character, even though all four of Brenna's older sisters seemed very pushy to me. But my favorite was Aunt Dottie. A little batty and seemingly with a touch of Alzheimer's, she is none-the-less very important to the story and someone I found myself to like a lot. Her love of hats, her wanting to fill herself with marbles to fill the empty spaces, her bits of seemingly confusing advice, it was what made her a great character to me. So in all it was a pretty decent read. Not my favorite Karen White book but it's still pretty good if you can get into it.

The book is not even 300 pages. Makes for a quick read but a suspenseful one at that. The words were beautifully written. The characters compelling. I was routing for Pierce the entire time. No quick twists or turns. I pretty much figured it all out halfway through but still enjoyed the ride.

Loved the idea of collecting old wartime letters. Brenna never opens them because she doesn't want to be disappointed.She's been hurt by the love of her life. Her sister's are always trying to set her up with dates. Brenna owns the old movie theater which she loves and wants to restore. Her old love comes back to town to help his elderly father. A box of old letters are found and addressed to the elderly father who wants Brenna to read them to him, as she does she finds so much more she stars to think about her life,about the returned of her long lost love, and about stopping her sisters from all those mystery dates. What about all those unopened letters? Can she give up her fear of opening her heart again? I enjoyed this book and will read more from this author

Learning to Breathe is...like a breath of fresh air as is the author, Karen White. I have a close friend that owns a book store (lucky for me) and it's not unusual for her to throw a book at me and say, "Read this. Then tell me what you think." And that's how I came to read White's prose in this heart-warming and refreshing novel. There's something about White's writing that hits so close to home and touches the heart that you simply can't put the book down. Although I don't think White is all that well-known, in my opinion, she well should be. After reading this novel, I went to Amazon.Com's website and ordered three more novels by Karen White, trusting the brief description of each novel and the customer reviews. I didn't go wrong. I don't have the time to do book reviews for the other three books, but trust me, The Color of Light, Pieces of the Heath, and The Memory of Water are three more novels by Karen White that once you start reading these novels, you won't to put them down until you're finished. You might want to have a box of Kleenex handy as well. Remember, if the writer doesn't cry, neither does the reader. I keep wondering if Karen White might have shed a few tears while writing these novels. I think Nicholas Sparks might as well move over because he's just met his match in heart-warming novels that truly touch the heart.

In Indianola, Louisiana, Brenna O'Brien owns and operates the Royal Majestic Theatre when her former teenage lover Pierce McGovern returns home from San Francisco. The son of a local doctor, Pierce just left Brenna behind when he deserted the town. Now he is back to place his ailing father in the assisted living complex the Village and to open a multiplex theatre that will shut down Brenna's operation.

Pierce blames his abrupt departure and his sarcastic outlook on Brenna. However, he admits to himself he still wants her; Brenna feels the same way but has decided to marry someone else. His ailing dad shows Brenna love letters that make her realize one should never settle, but risking her heart seems foolish as he rejected her once and will break her heart into a zillion pieces this time.

This is terrific second chance at love romance starring two likable protagonists who blame the other for the end of the first time together. The support cast is strong as his forgetful father and her relatives especially her introspective young nephew bring wisdom to the pair of hurting soulmates. Karen White writes a deep Bayou contemporary love story as her lead pair begins LEARNING TO BREATH in the love they share.

Harriet Klausner

Fantastic book. I think she does a great job capturing the South and family relationships. You fall in love with her characters and can not put the book down. This is the second of her books that I have read and she is my new favorite author.

Burned by love by her first love, theater owner Brenna now spends her days fending off one bad blind date after another set up by her four well meaning sisters. When Pierce returns home a decade later to care for his ailing father, the duo is too proud to reflect on their past, and Brenna decides that she would rather marry her best friend then take a chance on a broken heart again. When a cache of unopened love letters addressed to Pierce's father is found in the old post office, he cites his failing health as a reason to have her read them to him, in hopes that it will encourage Brenna to take a chance on life.

The romance is a bit on the light side - this story is more character-driven. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see where this story is headed, but White makes the journey engaging and effortless, and even the most jaded reader will shed a tear or two. Lack of communication and allowing yourself to be a pawn to someone else's machinations are overriding themes - I was so glad when Brenna finally told her sisters enough! I was not sure I was going to like the novel as I started reading it, but White quickly sucked me in and I finished it pretty quickly.

I found the story to be fun, loving, heartfelt and yet the mystery was quite predictable. I love that it centers around the youngest of 5 sisters and by the half way point I found I couldn't wait to start reading the next night. However, I must say that in the first few chapters I felt as though I was being treated as an infant, led by the nose through each chapter. One sentence tells how she picked up a folded shirt from the top of the basket of clean clothes she hadn't put away yet. Yes, you got it - that's a mouthful, and yet quite unnecessary. I found alot of instances such as this. With that said, I muddled through the bore and finally it started to pick up and ended on a high note.
I didn't have much hope for this author at first. I'm reading a second book by her now and in just the first few chapters I find that she's matured as a writer.