Breathe

“Brasme’s potent debut spirals through the teenage psyche like the faultlines before a quake, featuring a heroine who could be Camus’ sinister little sister.” —Caroline Leavitt, New York Times–bestselling author

Now a major motion picture

From her prison cell, Charlene recounts her lonely adolescence. Growing up shy and unpopular, Charlene never had many friends. That is, until she met Sarah, a beautiful and charismatic American-French girl who moved back to Paris for high school. Much to Charlene’s shock and delight, the two girls quickly develop an intense friendship. With Sarah by her side, Charlene finally begins to feel accepted and even loved.

However, after a brief idyllic period, the girls’ relationship becomes rocky and friendship veers towards obsession. As Sarah drops Charlene for older, more glamorous friends, Charlene’s devotion spirals into hatred. Unfolding slowly and eerily towards a shocking conclusion, Anne-Sophie Brasme’s Breathe is an intense, convincing portrait of a possessive and ambiguous friendship.

“Breathe fuses gothic angst with something more sinisterly existential . . . A short, dark account of the hothouse atmosphere of tortured adolescence and overheated relationships.” —Metro, UK