Breathless

Description

Lo enjoys a sheltered safe childhood, but when she is six years old a fire breaks out in a field by her home, and in the aftermath she makes a new friend. Lukas is thirteen and Lo's family are deeply suspicious of his motives for befriending such a young girl. The pair are forced to meet in secret, sleeping side by side by the lake every summer. For her fifteenth birthday, Lukas takes Lo to the Tivoli pleasure gardens in Copenhagen. Senses dulled by dancing, drink and fairy lights, she falls early to sleep, and wakes to find their lives and friendship changed forever.

Anne Sward (1969) made her literary debut in 2003 with novel Polarsommar, which earned her an August Prize nomination. It was later followed by Kvicksand in 2006, which was nominated for Vi magazine's literature prize. Deborah Bragan-Turner is a bookseller and translator living in Beziers, France.

'This coming of age tale has all the usual ingredients - sex, death, a lost childhood - but its impressionistic, circling narrative marks it out' Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail. * Daily Mail * 'A sense of foreboding pervades this beguiling novel. Sward is eloquent on love, betrayal, and the complexities of the human heart' Lucy Popescu, Independent. * Independent * 'Compelling and thought-provoking' Irish Examiner. * Irish Examiner *