Holding Her Breath

· Penguin · Narrated by Clara Harte
Audiobook
7 hr 17 min
Unabridged
Eligible
Ratings and reviews aren’t verified  Learn more
Want a 10 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline. 
Add

About this audiobook

Brought to you by Penguin.

A young woman comes of age in the shadow of her family's tragic past

When Beth Crowe starts university, she is shadowed by the ghost of her potential as a competitive swimmer. Free to create a fresh identity for herself, she finds herself among people who adore the poetry of her grandfather, Benjamin Crowe, who died tragically before she was born. She embarks on a secret relationship - and on a quest to discover the truth about Benjamin and his widow, her beloved grandmother Lydia. The quest brings her into an archive that no scholar has ever seen, and to a person who knows things about her family that nobody else knows.

Holding Her Breath is a razor-sharp, moving and seriously entertaining novel about complicated love stories, ambition and grief - and a young woman coming fully into her powers.

'A beautiful coming-of-age story told with impressive skill and lightness of touch . . . I absolutely loved it' LOUISE O'NEILL

'Precise, sure, engaging, and a joy to read' RODDY DOYLE

'A nimble account of student life with a darkly enjoyable undercurrent of secrecy and emotional turmoil' SARA BAUME

'Through the dark sky of our times, Eimear Ryan arrives like a comet, a bright talent scorching through every page' DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA, author of A Ghost in the Throat

'Brilliantly realised, gripping, and moving . . . This is absolutely the real thing' KEVIN POWER

© Eimear Ryan 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

About the author

Eimear Ryan's writing has appeared in Granta, Winter Papers, The Dublin Review and The Stinging Fly. She is the 2021 Writer in Residence at University College Cork. She is a co-founder of the literary journal Banshee and its publishing imprint, Banshee Press. She was shortlisted for the Newcomer of the Year Award at the Irish Book Awards for her first novel, Holding Her Breath. A native of Co. Tipperary, Eimear now lives in Cork city.

Rate this audiobook

Tell us what you think.

Listening information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.