The Air You Breathe

In the photograph she wears a gold choker, wrapped twice around her neck. Below it are strand upon strand of fake pearls, each one as large as an eyeball. Then there are the bracelets bands of coral and gold taking up most of her forearms. At the end of each day, when I d take those necklaces and bracelets off her and she stopped being Sofia Salvador (for a moment, at least), Graça flapped her arms and said, I feel so light. I could fly away!

Graça drew Sofia s dark eyebrows arched so high she always looked surprised. The mouth that famous red mouth was what took her the longest to produce. She lined beyond her lips so that, like everything else, it was an exaggeration of the real thing. Who was the real thing? By the end of her short life, even Graça had trouble answering this question.

The picture was taken for Life magazine. The photographer stood Graça against a white backdrop. Pretend you re singing, he ordered. Why pretend? Graça replied.

I thought that s all you knew how to do, the photographer shot back. He was famous and believed his fame gave him the right to be nasty.

Graça stared. She was very tired. We always were, even me, who signed Sofia Salvador s name to hundreds of glossy photos while Graça and the Blue Moon boys endured eighteen hour days of filming, costume fittings, screen tests, dance rehearsals, and publicity shoots for whatever her latest movie musical was. It could have been worse; we could have been starving like in the old days. But at least in the old days we played real music, together.

Then I will pretend to respect you, Graça said to that fool photographer. Then she opened her mouth and sang. People remember the haircut, the enormous earrings, the sequined skirts, the accent, but they forget her voice. When she sa

Literary 

"Echoes of Elena Ferrante resound in this sumptuous saga." O, The Oprah Magazine

"The Air You Breathe is a beautiful, luscious ode to the lasting friendships that shape our lives."  BookRiot 
 
"While The Air You Breathe is a brilliant portrayal of female friendship, equally brilliant are Peebles descriptions of the soulful step-by-step rhythm of whipped-up samba musicians, the dank back rooms & makeshift stages of boozy clubs in Rio, how the world magically retreats when a bedazzled singer steps into view, erupting in song, and finally the celluloid seduction of Hollywood studios. This is a remarkable and deeply felt tale of the price of ambition and fame."  KMUW 

"I loved getting to know Graça and Dores, two brave young women who leave the lives they were given behind in pursuit of the lives they desire. This novel has countless nuggets of wisdom that sneak up on you at the perfect moment You ll love this story of a lifelong friendship and like me, you might find yourself looking back at the songs or people that first shaped you." Diane Guerrero, author of In the Country We Love, starred in the hit series Orange is the New Black.

"A poor orphan and a wealthy heiress whose roller-coaster friendship is a welcome reminder that time can make any relationship stronger." Glamour

"If you like your fictional friendships cinematically devoted and rocky, Frances de Pontes Peebles s The Air You Breathe is gold." Redbook

"A haunting, poetic novel about friendship, love, and longing, tinged with golden age glamour. A perfect fit for any general fiction collection." Library Journal, starred review
 
Beautifully written and structured. The Air You Breathe is a moving portrait of a lifelong friendship, with many lows, and it shows how friendship shapes our lives and what we owe to it. This is one of those novels you find hard to put down without finishing. The Washington Book Review

"The book practically moves in your hand; it is so musical in story and in prose. It's a joy to read and the original lyrics could easily be mistaken for classic sambas."  NPR Alt.Latino

"This majestic, emotionally astute novel is as haunting and lovely as the perfect samba." Dallas Morning News

"Samba music and its allure beats beneath this winding and sinuous tale of ambition, memory, and identity Peebles' detailed and atmospheric story is cinematic in scope, panoramic in view, and lyrical in tone."  Kirkus, STARRED review

"A sweeping, cinematic and thoroughly engrossing tale about an eduring friendship and the story of samba. . .[An] unforgettable novel." BookPage

"This epic novel will transport you to places as far-flung as Brazil s heyday of samba and Los Angeles Golden Age of Hollywood. But what will keep you reading is Frances de Pontes Peebles' description of a friendship that bridged socioeconomic classes during their youths, and shifted and persisted throughout the girls lives One a singer and the other a songwriter, they ll chart each other s paths towards fame, a journey laced with treachery and excitement."  Refinery29 

"Frances de Pontes Peebles tender novel follows this unlikely friendship and the jealousy and rivalry that come with their pursuit of fame."  Real Simple 
 
"Peebles does a marvelous job of evoking the world of samba, which forms the backdrop to the complicated relationship the two women share. Readers will be rewarded with complex characters and a well-realized setting."  Booklist 
 
"Peebles presents a captivating portrait of friendship [the book s] reflections on love, music, envy, and loyalty ache with feeling, and a hint of mystery surrounding the central relationship s dissolution will keep readers intrigued until the end."  Publishers Weekly 

"Although this novel is set during the 1930s in Brazil, the tale between two friends remains timeless...Each page is as intoxicating as the characters themselves; the perfect read for a long weekend or day off."  Fashion Week Online

"A soaring fusion of emotion, intense drama, and the compelling rhythms of Brazilian music, The Air You Breathe belongs to the special category of historical novels that chronicle entire lives and it does so in enthralling fashion Dores narrates in a voice as lyrical and achingly passionate as the sambas she writes The novel is an intoxicating performance itself, not to be missed by anyone wanting to be wrapped up in a well-told story."  Historical Novel Society 

"A masterfully choreographed saga of friendship, envy, sacrifice and love as soulful, layered, and intoxicating as the samba that reverberates from the page." Georgia Hunter, New York Times-bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones

"The Air You Breathe is that kind of fairy tale where the curse is that your dreams come true, and keep coming true, and you have to survive it for the rest of your life. Two girls run after their dreams of samba, stardom, friendship, and art, and the result is this glittering, mesmerizing triumph of a novel." Alexander Chee, author of The Queen of the Night

"A glittering, beautiful story full of romance and intrigue and tragedy hard to put down." Anton DiSclafani, New York Times-bestselling author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls
  
"I was captivated by this narrator's voice wise with years of secrets, disappointments, and burning proximity to so much heat and light. And what a story she has to tell: an aching reminiscence of lives entwined by music, friendship, and longing. Vivid and unforgettable." 
Laura Moriarty, New York Times-bestselling author of The Chaperone
 
"Prepare to lose yourself in this sweeping, lush novel about two girls in 1920s Brazil brought together by circumstance and kept together by love of song, of success, and, in the end, of each other. As rich and complex and moving as music itself." Cristina Henríquez, author of  The Book of Unknown Americans
 
"Sweeps you up like a fairytale, and although the characters are deep and real, the story keeps its breathless magic to the end, with transformations and journeys and bonds as entrancing as Graça and Dores themselves. An ambitious and consuming novel." Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers
 
"A luxuriant, lovely, utterly delicious book.  It will transport you to a world that is half-magical, half-historical, deeply familiar, and wholly new.  I couldn't put it down." Abby Geni, author of The Lightkeepers