Holding Her Breath by Eimear Ryan (Review by Lara Ferguson)

After a disastrous emotional breakdown, Beth is doing her best to be a “normal” young adult. She is continuing her swimming career at the college level, instead of at the Olympics as a direct result of her “issues,” but she is ok with that—she is ready to remember how much she loves swimming and have time for something else, like friends—maybe even a boyfriend. As she establishes a friendship with her English-major roommate Sadie, she finds herself surrounded by a group of literature lovers who also happen to love the poetry of her late grandfather, Benjamin Crowe, who died before she was born. Beth’s family, (her mother and grandmother), don’t talk about him much and she discovers that her new friends may know more about him than she does. Beth sets out to learn more about her grandfather, and quickly realizes that there are as many ideas and perspectives out there as there are people. Holding Her Breath is not just another story of a young woman coming-of-age. It is a deep look at the ways people live, love, and grieve personal losses differently. Through the narrative, Eimear Ryan, carefully and lovingly describes the heart and soul of her main characters with clarity and grace, until the reader knows and understands why and how the story takes place. Beth Crowe could be any one of us, and she shows us how to use our strengths and follow our hearts to the end of our story.