The Mystery of Breathing

I was suprised to see a novel about a competitive neonatal physician at an elite academic hospital described as a "psychological thriller." But that is exactly what The Mystery of Breathing by Perri Klass is. The novel delves into the life of Dr. Maggie Claymore, a gifted neonatal physician in line for a coveted promotion, when an annonymous hate campaign threatens to derail her career. She works in a higly competitive world and the hate campaign not only causes her colleagues to quietly question her credentials, but the events shake Maggie's own deepest sense of her self.

The novel takes the reader between the events unfolding in Maggie's life to the defining events in Maggie's childhood and young adulthood that brought her to where she is. The author manages to articulate the combination of childhood events, adult ambitions and human emotions that mold our very being. And our ability to control who we are and how the world perceives us is fragile indeed.

I was not at all suprised to see that Perri Klass is a practicing pediatrician. You just can't make up the intricacies and oddities of academic medicine. Because of that insight, and the searing look into a women's ambition and soul, The Mystery of Breathing is indeed a gripping psychological thriller.