Sarah Alexander lives in London with her husband, two chickens and an imaginary cat called H.The Art of Not Breathing is her first novel.
Recently I asked Alexander about what she was reading. Her reply:
I’ve just finished reading Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard (which is coming to the US next year with a new title, Fragile Like Us). It’s a beautifully written story about friendship, family, abuse and mental health. Barnard perfectly captures the agonising and anxiety-inducing elements of female friendship, as well as the positive ones. I was particularly impressed by the wayVisit Sarah Alexander's website.the author shows how unlikely it is that we have the full picture when making judgments about others. There are three main characters in the story – all very different – and I could relate to every single one. And if that wasn’t enough, the writing is exquisite.
As part of research for my next book, I’m reading a non-fiction book, The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner. It’s a fascinating look at the culture of fear we have created for ourselves. The perspective is very much a western one, so far – and I’m not half way through yet, but I’m particularly interested in the part that media plays in this culture,and how our Fight or Flight response simply wasn’t made for the modern world we live in.
Finally, I’m about to embark on The Ship by Antonia Honeywell, a dystopian coming-of-age novel set in a burnt out London sometime ‘at the end of the world’ and a struggle for survival. I love dystopian fiction but I don’t read enough it, and I especially don’t read enough books with a connection to my home city of London. I think I’m about to be in for a tense and emotional journey.
The Page 69 Test: The Art of Not Breathing.
--Marshal Zeringue
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