Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
L'Inconnue is a young woman lost in turbulent Paris at the turn of the nineteenth century.
Amund is a Norwegian toymaker and father to two young children in the 1950s.
Anouk is a contemporary Canadian suffering from cystic fibrosis, a medical condition that leaves her constantly fighting for air, swimming through the boundary between life and death as she awaits a lung transplant that could save her life.
The way their stories intersect takes us effortlessly through time and space, revealing how our lives can be changed by strangers ― and how we, in turn, can shape events far beyond our apparent reach. An unforgettable novel about what lives on beyond us, Coming Up for Air exists in the moment between the exhale and the inhale and the space between water and air. It explores the cycle of life and the nature and transcendental power of storytelling.
Synopsis
A lyrical, powerful, and richly textured novel about three lives that intertwine across oceans and time.
On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toy-maker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Ottawa Valley in Canada, where a journalist, battling a terrible disease, risks everything for one last chance to live.
Taking inspiration from a remarkable true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about the transcendent power of storytelling and the immeasurable impact of every human life. The legacy of the woman at its heart touches the lives of us all today, and this book reveals just how.