Breeze

by Richard Seltzer

Breeze, a young woman in present-day Connecticut, goes into a medically inexplicable coma. Her boyfriend, Yannie, a senior at Yale, has to get her the help she needs to survive while trying to solve the mystery of this goddess-like free spirit who appeared out of nowhere two months before.In part two, Breeze awakens in a different body in a different place and time. She is at Troy in the body of Briseis, love-slave of Achilles. She fears she’ll be taken for a demon. She knows the story she is trapped in, and she learns that she can make changes in what the story leaves unsaid, so long as she doesn't alter the direction of the narrative.In part three, Breeze finds herself in still another body. It's the fourth century AD and she’s at the temple of the Eleusinian Mysteries, near Athens. A young woman lies down on the altar next to the corpse of another young woman. In the ritual, she expects her soul will move to the body of the dead woman. Instead, the dead woman comes to life with the soul of Breeze. That glitch leads to humorous complications as well insights into the ironies of everyday life and love.Breeze and Richard's three previous novels (Parallel Lives, Beyond the 4th Door, and Nevermind) can be read in any order. They are independent stories, with overlapping themes and styles. Each novel presents a different view of reality, a different way of trying to understand the mysteries of life.

249 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 23, 2021

About the author

Author of two dozen books, I've been editor, novelist, Russian translator, parttime spy, Internet evangelist, and ebook entrepreneur. I've published children's fantasies, historical novels, and pioneering books about how to do business on the Internet. As a spokesperson for Digital Equipment, a tech leader in the early Internet, I saw how consumer choices and business models molded the outcomes we live with today. My latest book, "In Flux," puts AI into context and suggest how we can nudge the future toward either serving us or oppressing us.

I graduated from Yale, with a major in English and went to grad school there in Comparative Literature. At Yale I had creative writing courses with Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Heller.

In my 70s I've finally been able to write what I want when I want, and I've been publishing 2-3 books a year. Most don't fit in established genres and hence agents and editors aren't interested. So I've gone with small and hybrid publishers which makes it difficult to get the attention of traditional reviewers. Now I'm finally getting some recognition, with reviews of three of my books appearing in the same issue of Publishers Weekly (June 9). Another book of mine (One Family) was reviewed in their July 21 issue. And yet another will be reviewed in their Sept. 8 issue. One Family also won the Connecticut Press Club's annual award for best non-fiction book.

My personal web site is seltzerbooks.com My Twitter account is @seltzerbooks

A list of every book I have read since 1958 (over 3500 books) appears at seltzerbooks.com/readall.html

Reviews

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the author, so of course I love it.

Breeze and my three previous novels (Parallel Lives, Beyond the 4th Door, and Nevermind) can be read in any order. They are independent stories, with overlapping themes and styles. Each novel presents a different view of reality, a different way of trying to understand the mysteries of life.