Between Each Breath

by Adam Thorpe

Once 'England's most promising young composer' - now living comfortably in Hampstead with his wife Milly, an heiress - Jack Middleton is in mid-life decline, his career in free-fall. When he visits Estonia for a three-week search for inspiration, he falls for a young waitress called Kaja, deeply bound up in the suffering of her country and the joy and danger of its new freedom. They embark on a passionate affair on a lonely island in a time warp. Then it's over. But of course nothing is ever over. Still childless six years later, Jack and Milly's marriage shows the strain, but they battle on better than most - until the past returns with a vengeance. The crisis takes place over a month, against a precise calendar of background events, both minor and major. Set in London and Estonia between 1999 and 2005 in the aftermath of the London bombings, as a hot, despondent summer drags on unnaturally into the autumn, "Between Each Breath" is a rich and often hilarious critique of Blair's decadent, bewildered, shallow, greedy, but knowing all the right buttons to press; knowing the language of compassion and abusing it. A story of love and betrayal, of age and youth, of wealth and poverty, of the new Europe and the old Europe, of art and compromise, of youthful ideals and cynical weariness, Adam Thorpe's extraordinary new novel is a biting, timely satire and a powerfully moving examination of social and emotional disintegration.

Genres: Fiction, Travel, British Literature

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Adam Thorpe is a British poet, novelist, and playwright whose works also include short stories and radio dramas.

Adam Thorpe was born in Paris and grew up in India, Cameroon, and England. Graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1979, he founded a touring theatre company, then settled in London to teach drama and English literature.

His first collection of poetry, Mornings in the Baltic (1988), was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Award. His first novel, Ulverton (1992), an episodic work covering 350 years of English rural history, won great critical acclaim worldwide, including that of novelist John Fowles, who reviewed it in The Guardian, calling it "(...) the most interesting first novel I have read these last years". The novel was awarded the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for 1992.

Adam Thorpe lives in France with his wife and three children.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Üldiselt raamat meeldis. Meeldis lugu, meeldisid peategelase eneseotsingud, meeldis see, kuidas kirjeldati Inglismaa elu-olu. Aga see, mis puudutas Eestit, jäi võõraks, aeg ja kirjeldus ei läinud kokku. Ja häiris ka see, et Saaremaad nimetati Haaremaaks, kui Tallinn oli Tallinn ja Eesti oli Eesti.
Nõuka aja kirjeldus oli tõesti selline nagu seda ilmselt Läänes ette kujutati, ei olnud üle kontrollitud. Ja aasta 2005/2006 kujutatu ka ei tundunud reaalne - vähemalt minu jaoks.
Kõik, mis puudutas muusikat, oli super!
Muidugi häiris halb tõlge ja sellega seoses ka kehv toimetamine. Võibolla inglise keeles lugedes oleks hoopis teine tera 😊

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps the most surprising thing is the way I was impelled through this book, despite the selfish, self-centred and careless behaviour of the main character, which my fascination with the way music was his constant companion never failed to overcome. Jack's situation so thoroughly evoked, as was his world and those who inhabited it, that the book felt heavy in import, even though the language used to tell it was so accurately applied as to be featherlight.

[Deb Gascoyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off badly - I nearly put it down as it read like a piece of gcse work! But I did get a bit more into it and the storyline wasn't as predictable as I'd expected. A sad book at times. Eventually worked out how the prologue linked in but I had to reread it at the end of the book!!! I can't decide if the three star rating is harsh, fair or generous!!

[Hugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adam Thorpe is a very versatile writer who is largely ignored if GR review stats are representative. For me this was one of his most enjoyable books - a complex story of adultery, Estonia and the world of classical music.

[Kirsty Keddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this to read whilst in Estonia as it is partially set there. However really didn't like it. It was dreadfully slow. Nothing particularly interesting happened and the ending was utterly pathetic!

[Delphine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between each breath is the story of Jack Middleton and the love triangle with his wife and mistress, set against the backdrop of the 2005 London bomb attacks. Jack is an underachieving composer, leading a comfortable but restrained life with his wealthy wife Milly. When he meets Kaja, a waitress, in Estonia, they embark on an affair which will have severe consequences...

Jack is highly unlikeable as a character. He's a liar who regards women as living cash machines or as sex and baby machines - in fact, all the men in this novel do. Between each breath is a biting satire on toxic masculinity - not surprisingly, the women in this novel turn to each for love in the end.

It took me some time to adapt to the style and sarcastic layer of this book, but it soon won me over completely. Extra bonuses for the depiction of the modern (classical) music scene and the Hampstead upper class.

[Tiiu Kirsimäe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inglise autori paeluv romaan elust ja armastusest ning kõigest, mis selle juurde kuulub. Huvitavaks muudab loo see, et peategelane satub 1999. aastal Eestisse ja ehkki see üldse tema plaanidega kokku ei lähe, muudab see käik põhjalikult tema väärtushinnanguid ja ellusuhtumist, lõpuks ka elu. Ainuke miinus asja juures on halb tõlge. (Sarjast "Moodne aeg" - kehvalt toimetatud raamatud on vist moodsa aja tunnus :(
Aga ikkagi, puudutab. Soovitan.

[Windy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a slow read with very little payback

[Kadri Kullman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seotus Eesti ja eestlastega teeb selle romani köitvaks,

[Puff]

DNF read up to page 152

[Ian Kirkpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam Thorpe’s contemporary novel of romantic deception is well-written and intricately constructed, which will come as no surprise to readers familiar with his other novels. In Jack Middleton he successfully creates a not entirely sympathetic narrator with a number of irritating character flaws, yet Thorpe’s skill is to make him utterly believable.

The unintended consequences of Jack’s transcultural love affair with Kaja, a young Estonian waitress, create a series of ripples across his ordered married life. Thorpe’s characterisations, particularly of his ensemble cast are well-observed. I particularly enjoyed the characters of Milly Du Crane (Jack’s wife) and Howard (Jack’s friend), both of whom have a real depth and vibrancy.

One minor gripe concerns the somewhat oblique prologue which I felt compelled to re-read more than once throughout the novel, trying to decipher the connection. Perhaps that was Thorpe’s intention, but for me it felt less than satisfying, and I normally enjoy time-shifts.

Overall I would recommend this book, and on the strength of it I have now bought “Still” (which looks to be a fairly mammoth undertaking).

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Thorpe's 'Flight' I picked another of his books more or less at random. I wasn't disappointed. After a slow start, Between Each Breath is an engaging story of a man's love for two women, that also exposes his inadequacies as well as life's imperfections. Life, of course, rarely delivers a clear answer to conflicts involving romance, and neither does this novel. It explores the territory of ambiguity rather cleverly.

The main character, Jack, is a composer, and as in his book 'Flight' Thorpe manages to create a convincingly accurate picture of what (in this case) composers of modern music do and how they spend their time, and especially of the perpetual risk of losing one's audience. Thorpe not only is (to me) convincing on the technical detail, but he's also convincing on Jack's underlying worry about his 'job' and how real or otherwise it is. In contrast, in 'Flight', the equivalent, equally convincing character was a pilot. It would be intriguing to find out how Thorpe goes about studying different, rather out-of-the-ordinary, professions in preparing the background for his novels.

[Sibila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the style of the book. I found it humorous, intelligent, sad, and very real. Would love to read it again.

[Anni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mõtlemapanev. Mulle meeldis, kuidas algus ja lõpp olid omavahel seotud.