Booklist Mouthful of Air Koppelman, Amy. A Mouthful of Air. Apr. 2003. 212p. MacAdam/Cage, $23 (1-931561-30-3). This effective first novel portrays the deep and abiding depression of a young wife and mother, newly returned to her family after suicide. Julie's life shows that love, money, privilege, and position are no guarantee of happiness, and that there is no logic to depression.

So visceral is Koppelman's prose, the reader truly feels the depths of Julie's spirit and the toll of her continual struggle to keep herself afloat. Although living in the present and benefiting from today's psychopharmacology, Julie seems remarkably untouched by the tremendous changes in women's lives since the 1960s. She marries very young, has no career, and becomes a mother right away. Her being out of sync with society emphasizes how out of touch she is with feelings of success or contentment. Unexpectedly pregnant again, she must give up the drugs that have helped her survive and risk all for the baby. Despite an air of melodrama at the end, this tragic tale, though difficult to read, is worth the effort.

 -Danise Hoover


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