Appeared on “Hay-on-Sky” 26 May. This book captures the awkwardness of youth along with the naivety and the boldness. Boys learning to become men and facing up to the responsibilities that growing older brings. Atmospheric and mesmerising this is a lovely read.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
Bruce Pike, or ‘Pikelet’, has lived all his short life in a tiny sawmilling town from where the thundering sea can be heard at night. He longs to be down there on the beach, amidst the pounding waves, but for some reason his parents forbid him. It’s only when he befriends Loonie, the local wild boy, that he finally defies them.
Intoxicated by the treacherous power of the sea and by their own youthful endurance, the two boys spurn all limits and rules, and fall into the company of adult mentors whose own addictions to risk take them to places they could never have imagined. Caught up in love and friendship and an erotic current he cannot resist, Pikelet faces challenges whose effects will far outlast his adolescence.
Breath is the story of lost youth recollected: its attractions, its compulsions, its moments of heartbreak and of madness. A young man learns what it is to be extraordinary, how to push himself, mind and body, to the limit in terrible fear and exhilaration, and how to mask the emptiness of leaving such intensity – in love and in life – behind.
Told with the immediacy and grace so characteristic of Tim Winton, Breath is a mesmeric novel by a writer at the height of his powers.
Breath features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Breath is available in Paperback, Ebook, Hardback
Breath was written by Tim Winton and published by Pan Macmillan
