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Amazon.com:
24 reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Good, good story
9 Mar 2007
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Better than I thought.
29 Sep 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Life After Loss
27 Jun 2007
Format:Paperback
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.
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