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Something Like Breathing

Angela Readman

$24.99

Paperback

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English
And Other Stories
15 April 2019
Friendship blossoms between an enigmatic girl and a whisky distiller's granddaughter on a remote Scottish island.

It's the 1950s, and Lorrie is unimpressed when her family moves to the remote Scottish island where her grandad runs a whisky distillery. She befriends Sylvie, the shy girl next door: 'The slightest smile from Sylvie was a fluffy elephant at the fair. It had to be won with a clear aim,' writes Lorrie. Yet fun-loving Lorrie isn't sure Sylvie's is the friendship she wants to win. As the adults around them struggle to keep their lives on an even keel, the two young women are drawn into a series of events that leave the small town wondering who exactly Sylvie is and what strange gift she is hiding. 

'A luminous debut...

Something Like Breathing is an auspicious work from a writer unusually skilled with language and subtext. It's a sad, serious, beautiful novel worth diving into head first.' — Katharine Coldiron, The Guardian

By:  
Imprint:   And Other Stories
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 197mm,  Width: 127mm, 
ISBN:   9781911508304
ISBN 10:   191150830X
Pages:   256
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Angela Readman is a twice-shortlisted winner of the Costa Short Story Award. Her debut story collection Don't Try This at Home was published by And Other Stories in 2015. It won The Rubery Book Prize and was shortlisted in the Edge Hill Short Story Prize. She also writes poetry, and her collection The Book of Tides was published by Nine Arches in 2016. Something Like Breathing is her first novel.

Reviews for Something Like Breathing

'Angela Readman's stories are fantastic, delightful gifts.' Toby Litt, author of Hospital and one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists'Angela Readman's prose exhibits two complimentary styles: fabulation is rendered deadpan, while wonderfully inventive similes are used to describe the everyday. Borges, Kafka and Angela Carter will all be reference points, but there is something joyfully distinctive about Readman's voice.' Toby Lichtig, Sunday Telegraph 'Readman writes with precision. Her stories emit suppressed yearning and she makes poignant comments about loneliness, identity, survival. Angela Carter is an obvious influence but fans of Donald Barthelme and Charles Baudelaire will cherish the emergence of a moral absurdist for our times.' Max Liu, The Independent 'A masterclass in the surreal . . . This slim volume shows why she won the Costa Short Story Award.' Max Wallis, 10 Best Spring Reads, The Independent `Sparky, shining writing that zings from the page. Subversive, funny and incisive. A real talent.' Sarah Hilary, author of Someone Else's Skin


  • Short-listed for Costa Short Story Award 2012
  • Short-listed for Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2016
  • Winner of Costa Short Story Award 2013
  • Winner of Rubery Book Prize 2016
  • Winner of Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection 2015

See Also