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"Breathe" by Lisa T. Bergren
May. 10th, 2012 04:46 pmThe Colorado frontier comes to life in this first book of Lisa T. Bergren's "Homeward Trilogy". Siblings Odessa, Dominic, and Moira come to Colorado Springs for the fresh mountain air, as Odessa suffers from the often-deadly consumption (now known as tuberculosis). Indeed, consumption has ravaged their family and they hope Colorado will provide a new start in more ways than one.
While all three of the St. Clair siblings share this story, "Breathe" focuses primarily on Odessa. Breathing is something she desperately needs help doing, and she begins finding strength again while being a patient at the sanitorium. She makes new friends with other patients and soon finds herself caught up in a mystery when one of them meets with a suspicious death. There may be healing in the mountains, but there is also danger.
Sister Moira is quite a social butterfly and willing to take daring risks for her own advancement. She dreams of being on the stage; dreams which her father always discouraged. While hoping that she, too, can find new opportunity in the West, she allies herself with the most powerful people in town. That just may backfire on the headstrong young lady as she continues following her own plans.
Dominic feels pressured to follow in the family business. With all of his brothers dead, there is no one else to inherit it from his father. But his heart is not in publishing and selling books. He loves the ability to take out his aggression in the boxing ring. But that's hardly the behavior of a gentleman and is looked at unfavorably by many. Longing to be free, Dominic struggles in finding his place.
I enjoyed this story but for some reason didn't quite find it that gripping. It was more like watching a movie, where you are entertained but never get too emotionally invested in the characters. I'm looking forward to reading the next books, though, and seeing if I can make more of a connection there.
While all three of the St. Clair siblings share this story, "Breathe" focuses primarily on Odessa. Breathing is something she desperately needs help doing, and she begins finding strength again while being a patient at the sanitorium. She makes new friends with other patients and soon finds herself caught up in a mystery when one of them meets with a suspicious death. There may be healing in the mountains, but there is also danger.
Sister Moira is quite a social butterfly and willing to take daring risks for her own advancement. She dreams of being on the stage; dreams which her father always discouraged. While hoping that she, too, can find new opportunity in the West, she allies herself with the most powerful people in town. That just may backfire on the headstrong young lady as she continues following her own plans.
Dominic feels pressured to follow in the family business. With all of his brothers dead, there is no one else to inherit it from his father. But his heart is not in publishing and selling books. He loves the ability to take out his aggression in the boxing ring. But that's hardly the behavior of a gentleman and is looked at unfavorably by many. Longing to be free, Dominic struggles in finding his place.
I enjoyed this story but for some reason didn't quite find it that gripping. It was more like watching a movie, where you are entertained but never get too emotionally invested in the characters. I'm looking forward to reading the next books, though, and seeing if I can make more of a connection there.
