The Trick is to Keep Breathing (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Trick is to Keep Breathing is the first novel from the writer Janice Galloway
. It was first published in the United Kingdom
by Polygon in 1989. The novel won the MIND/Allen Lane Book of the Year and was also shortlisted for both the Whitbread First Novel
and Scottish First Book
awards.
Through the wit and irony that is gaining international applause, Galloway crafts the chicken-or-egg dilemma of life in our times and being depressed. Yet even through her growing obsessions and the metamorphoses of family and friends into suspicious characters, Galloway's main character and the reader find that the trick in living rests with the simplest things.
she owns. She is a Drama teacher, and works part-time at a bookmaker
s. She is anorexic
, and possibly as a consequence no longer menstruates
. She voraciously reads women's magazines. She is an alcoholic
.
, USA. She regularly writes to Joy.
when on holiday with Joy before the novel's own timeline. His death is retold throughout the novel in italicized text.
Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway is a writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti-Biography:She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated when she was four and her father died when she was six. Her sister Nora, sixteen years older, died in...
. It was first published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Polygon in 1989. The novel won the MIND/Allen Lane Book of the Year and was also shortlisted for both the Whitbread First Novel
Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....
and Scottish First Book
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
awards.
Plot summary
Drama teacher Joy Stone is losing her grip. In an intriguing story of the onset and evolution of depression, her problems accumulate, denial activates, and food becomes a major player. All the while, she is trying to cope with the loss of her married lover and her own mother.Through the wit and irony that is gaining international applause, Galloway crafts the chicken-or-egg dilemma of life in our times and being depressed. Yet even through her growing obsessions and the metamorphoses of family and friends into suspicious characters, Galloway's main character and the reader find that the trick in living rests with the simplest things.
Joy Stone
The novel's protagonist and narrator. She is 27 years old. She lives on a council estate on the outskirts of Irvine, Ayrshire, not far from the dilapidated cottageCottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
she owns. She is a Drama teacher, and works part-time at a bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s. She is anorexic
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
, and possibly as a consequence no longer menstruates
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
. She voraciously reads women's magazines. She is an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
Marianne
Joy's friend who is also a teacher. For the duration of the novel she is teaching in KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, USA. She regularly writes to Joy.
Ellen
The mother of Marianne. She lives alone in a house too large for one person. She loves to cook, and equates food with happiness.Michael Fisher
He was the husband of Norma Fisher, and Joy's lover. He drowned in a swimming pool in SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
when on holiday with Joy before the novel's own timeline. His death is retold throughout the novel in italicized text.