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Dubray Review

This atmospheric coming-of-age story follows paramedic Bruce Pike as he relives the trials and tribulations of his adolescence in 1970s Australia. The teenage ‘Pikelet’ feels stifled by his life in the small town of Sawyer and seeks some form of escape from the mundanity of his life, a release he soon finds in the dangerous and thrilling world of surfing. Together with his friend Loonie, he befriends the experienced surfer Sando, who encourages the boys to push themselves to the limit. As the waves get dangerously high, they find their relationship becoming more strained and problematic. Tim Winton’s evocative prose paints a breathtakingly stark picture of the Australian coast but, more importantly, he crafts a startlingly realistic portrait of the teenage psyche. An achingly beautiful and touching novel that I absolutely loved.

- Aoife Doran, Grafton Street

Description

Bruce Pike can hear the sea at night and longs to go to the shore. When he befriends Loonie, his small town's wild boy, that dream is realized. Together, intoxicated by the treacherous power of the waves and by the immortality of youth, the two boys defy all limits and rules. Pikelet learns what it is to be extraordinary, feels exhilaration for the very first time, and -- caught up in love and friendship and an erotic current he cannot resist -- he understands the true meaning of fear. These are experiences that will far outlast his adolescence. How, then, to mask the emptiness of leaving such intensity behind? 'An absorbing, powerful and deeply beautiful novel' Observer 'A love letter to the sea and a moving coming-of-age story ...Rapturous' Sunday Telegraph 'Breath has the sensibility and reach of an epic' Scotland on Sunday 'Full of fizz and a vital poetry of sun, sand, sea and air' Independent on Sunday 'Breath has the urgent clarity of a story that needed to be told' Guardian

Reviews

"Plunge into this novel and you, too, will be pulled under."--"The Miami Herald "

"Stunning in the depth of its audacity . . . limitlessly beautiful prose."--"The Washington Post Book World "

"Darkly exhilarating . . . a tautly gorgeous meditation on the inescapable human addiction to 'the monotony of drawing breath, ' whether you want to or not."--"The New York Times Book Review "

"Both a hymn to the beauty of flying on water and a sober assessment of the costs of losing one's balance, in every sense of the word."--"The New Yorker "