{"product_id":"9780316384117","title":"As Close to Us as Breathing","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn Amazon Best Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eA multigenerational family saga about the long-lasting reverberations of one tragic summer by \"a wonderful talent [who] should be read widely\" (Edward P. Jones).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1948, a small stretch of the Woodmont, Connecticut shoreline, affectionately named \"Bagel Beach,\" has long been a summer destination for Jewish families. Here sisters Ada, Vivie, and Bec assemble at their beloved family cottage, with children in tow and weekend-only husbands who arrive each Friday in time for the Sabbath meal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring the weekdays, freedom reigns. Ada, the family beauty, relaxes and grows more playful, unimpeded by her rule-driven, religious husband. Vivie, once terribly wronged by her sister, is now the family diplomat and an increasingly inventive chef. Unmarried Bec finds herself forced to choose between the family-centric life she's always known and a passion-filled life with the married man with whom she's had a secret years-long affair.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when a terrible accident occurs on the sisters' watch, a summer of hope and self-discovery transforms into a lifetime of atonement and loss for members of this close-knit clan. Seen through the eyes of Molly, who was twelve years old when she witnessed the accident, this is the story of a tragedy and its aftermath, of expanding lives painfully collapsed. Can Molly, decades after the event, draw from her aunt Bec's hard-won wisdom and free herself from the burden that destroyed so many others?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eElizabeth Poliner is a masterful storyteller, a brilliant observer of human nature, and in \u003ci\u003eAs Close to Us as Breathing\u003c\/i\u003e she has created an unforgettable meditation on grief, guilt, and the boundaries of identity and love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown and Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47144690843888,"sku":"9780316384117","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780316384117_p0.jpg?v=1769889801","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780316384117","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}