Tempo de Graça, tempo de Dor by Frances Pontes de Peebles

(One might say I inhaled it.)… The Air You Breathe is genuinely exciting to watch.” – NPR I read The Air You Breathe in two nights. 'A glorious, glittery saga of friendship and loss. murder, extortion, Hollywood glamor, the entire story of samba, and, of course, sexual longing and an exceptional cast of characters. Traveling from Brazil's inland sugar plantations to the rowdy streets of Rio de Janeiro's famous Lapa neighborhood, from Los Angeles during the Golden Age of Hollywood back to the irresistible drumbeat of home, The Air You Breathe unfurls a moving portrait of a lifelong friendship-its unparalleled rewards and lasting losses-and considers what we owe to the relationships that shape our lives. Their intimate, volatile bond will determine each of their fortunes-and haunt their memories.

But only one of the two is destined to be a star. Music will become their shared passion, the source of their partnership and their rivalry, and for each, the only way out of the life to which each was born. One has a voice like a songbird the other feels melodies in her soul and composes lyrics to match.

Born to wildly different worlds, Dores and Graça quickly bond over shared mischief, and then, on a deeper level, over music. Graça, the spoiled daughter of a wealthy sugar baron, is clever, well fed, pretty, and thrillingly ill behaved. Skinny, nine-year-old orphaned Dores is working in the kitchen of a sugar plantation in 1930s Brazil when in walks a girl who changes everything. Some friendships, like romance, have the feeling of fate.

Tempo de Graça, tempo de Dor by Frances Pontes de Peebles