Bibliophiles of the internet, my name's Adriana and today I'm here to give you
five reasons to read "The Air You Breathe" by Frances de Pontes Peebles.
This is #ownvoices queer Latinx historical fiction, set in 1930's Brazil about Dores,
an orphan who works in the kitchen at a sugar plantation,
and Graça, the spoiled daughter of the wealthy sugar baron who owns the plantation itself.
They are extreme opposites, and they clash instantly,
but eventually they discover that they both share a passion for music.
In fact, Graça requests that Dores become her personal companion,
and it's Graça's mother who takes both of them to their first samba concert,
which changes the course of their lives.
Turns out that Graça has an incredible voice and Dores has a knack for composing the music and lyrics.
Eventually they leave behind the sugar plantation and run away together to Rio de Janeiro,
where they try to make it as professional sambistas as their conflicting attitudes
push them together and pull them apart over the years.
Reason #1 to read this book:
It tells the story of an incredible queer musician, but it is not a story solely fixated on queerness.
I wanted to highlight this, because many people are not sure if this book "qualifies" as queer lit,
and I am here to assure you that it does.
The only quote-unquote "pre-requisite" for queer lit should be that the story (or a significant part of it)
is told from the perspective of someone who is queer. Full stop.
Just because this is not a romance,
just because the story's main focus is not Dores' romantic or sexual exploits does not make it any less.
This story is told through an explicitly bisexual woman, whose queerness, of course,
influences the way she navigates the world, and just the fact that she *exists* is enough.
Even though the story doesn't set out to focus on Dores' identity, it does a good job of showing Dores
discovering her queerness growing up and how she struggles to process that, especially in this time and place.
An interest in men was always reinforced as a "given," and you see Dores rebelling against that,
even though what she wants is just the freedom to explore relationships with men and women alike.
But she's never had that chance, nor has she had the vocabulary to express that.
So when she and Graça break away from home and start living as musicians in the streets,
everything changes and the world opens up.
At the same time, even though Dores discovering her queerness is an important part of this story,
it's only a small portion of her life.
It's not the big picture. It's not her sole identifier.
There is more to her personhood, there is more to her life. And we also need stories like that.
Reason #2: This book is an ambitious historic epic, and it succeeds in unfolding an intricate saga of love, rivalry, and loss.
This is one of those books that makes you feel like you've lived entire lifetimes once you finish it.
You literally follow Dores from her birth until the day she dies.
And I think the way the narrative is chunked up,
and how the most significant portions of these characters' lives are highlighted is *masterfully* done.
There's also these segments between chapters where you get a brief retrospective look from Dores
towards the end of her life, which really makes you feel how *big* the story is.
In these moments, she reveals things that have not yet come to pass,
or she hints at how the relationships in her life with eventually splinter or change,
which really heightens the tension in the story as well.
And I feel like this epic timeline was the only effective way to tell this story, because in the end, time is what endures.
Times change, relationships change, style changes,
and the evolution of your relationships and decisions doesn't always bear good fruit, so to speak.
I think the only way to properly characterize these complex people and the intense dynamics of their relationships
was to show how they progress over the years piece by piece.
Ultimately, it's a satisfying narrative with an extraordinary amount of substance.
Reason #3: This story celebrates incredible female musicians breaking barriers,
in a time when it was *unheard* of for women to be at the forefront.
Growing up, these characters had no icons to look up to, they had no examples of successful female sambistas
or composers, because it was just not done.
These characters were told in no uncertain terms: "Women do NOT sing samba. Women do NOT write music."
And in fact, because they grew up during a time where the radio was first introduced,
being a recording musician was not even seen as a viable career choice.
Both Dores and Graça were confident in their talent and passion for music early on,
because that confidence was not gonna come from anyone else.
And as they forced their way through more and more doors, and gained the support of various benefactors,
they *gave* people a reason to recognize the magnitude of their talent.
Even so, they had to endure hardships, atrocious conditions, and cruel industry double standards
to gain any kind of compensation or recognition, and the story also offers insight to how that impacted these relationships.
Dores, especially, was never really credited for the music and lyrics she created,
even as Graça uses those songs to go on to become an international film and music icon,
which definitely puts strain on their tumultuous friendship.
The story navigates how Dores reconciles her unrequited love for Graça and her envy of Graça's visibility
with the success their partnership brings them both.
But ultimately, despite the industry's attempts to shut them out, they do make it, they do find success.
And even though there is more to them, there is extraordinary meaning in that.
Reason #4: Graça and Dores' clashing personalities and desires make for a dramatic, dynamic
and emotional narrative, which really carries the entire book.
Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this story is that if offers up such a deeply complex friendship,
where passion is equal parts love and resentment.
The fact that these two characters come from completely different worlds proceeds to affect the trajectory
of their entire lives. And despite the fact that they're always together, they are fundamentally separate.
Coming from a world of wealth and privilege, Graça not only feels entitled to people's adoration and interest,
but she also has certain expectations she's meant to meet that are never quite in reach,
which makes her feel somewhat wild and desperate.
She is dramatic, impassioned, erratic. To reach her dreams of becoming famous, she's willing destroy herself.
Dores, on the other hand, an impoverished orphan who only survives on luck and other people's good graces,
is forever regulated to the sidelines,
and she almost has to make herself expendable so that she can always have Graça's back.
She is the fixer, she is the one who always finds a way no matter what, even if she is not seen or recognized or wanted.
And even though they share the same passion, their immediate desires are always dissonant and in conflict,
and that makes for a startling dynamic.
They love each other, they take care of each other, but they care in different ways.
and the way they love each other is so complex that it's something they both take for granted.
They don't always prioritize their friendship the way they should.
Which leads me into my fifth and final reason:
I love how the story indicates that even the strongest relationships do not necessarily grow with us.
The entire story hinges on the double-edged nature of this relationship between Dores and Graça.
It's powerful, but it can also be toxic.
There is so much brewing between them for an entire lifetime.
Unrequited love on Dores' part; a stark difference in talent, visibility, and success;
deep-seated insecurities stemming from their shared childhood.
And the unstable nature of all those things both strengthens and warps their relationship.
Like I said, they have this intense push-and-pull dynamic, and they love each other so much
and know each other so well that sometimes they lash out with the expectation that they'll always be able to fix things.
But those moments do leave their mark.
The story embodies how what we want and who we want it with can evolve alongside how we understand ourselves.
What you want can change shape, or you can gain a sharper definition of exactly how you want it—
—and that doesn't always align with someone else's process, for better or worse.
And you see how those fiery, contrasting moments add up
and how those who love us are the ones who can hurt us the most.
I was really invested in the ups and downs of this relationship,
how these characters looked out for each other and yet were still able to nurture their mutual resentment,
which pushes them towards an inevitable breaking point.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. The story masterfully uses original sambas to underscore the release of desire,
lament, and loss—and that's really the crux of what these characters experience.
So those are just five of many reasons to read this amazing book.
Of course, if you've read this one yourself or if you would like to read it in the future,
I would love to know your thoughts.
But that's everything I had for this recommendation today. Thank you so much for watching this video.
I really hope that you enjoyed it, and I will catch YOU on the flip-side of the page.
Bye!
[♫ snazzy end screen music ♫]
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