Tamarack Lake, in upper state New York is a sanatorium tucked into the Adirondack Mountains. It is the fall of 1916, on the cusp of America entering the war. Wealthy tubercular patients live here, stuck in a monotonous routine. Gossip and rumors abound. This is a highly ambitious and smart novel, touching on science, anti-immigrant prejudice and mulitple romantic interludes. My issues were in the uneven narrative flow and convoluted storylines, along with keeping up with the myriad of characters. I prefer her short fiction but I still think it is worth reading, especially for Barrett fans. ( )

I love the collective narrator and the mystery and the people. ( )

@ Sanatoriums in upstair N.Y. patients took "cure" of rest + open air (or on Boats in harbor)
Leo + Eudora

In the fall of 1916, America prepares for war—but in the community of Tamarack Lake, the focus is on the sick. Wealthy tubercular patients live in private cure cottages; charity patients, mainly immigrants, fill the large public sanatorium. Prisoners of routine, they take solace in gossip, rumor, and—sometimes—secret attachments. But when the well-meaning efforts of one enterprising patient lead to a tragic accident and a terrible betrayal, the war comes home, bringing with it a surge of anti-immigrant prejudice and vigilante sentiment.

This novel moved way to slow and nothing much happens. The narrators are a group of patients in Tamarack Lake Sanatorium who are all there for a cure from TB. ( )

The Air We Breathe is narrated by an unnamed patient residing in a sanatorium in the Adirondacks as the first World War approaches. The patients, all of whom suffer from tuberculosis, have been sent here by the state; most of them are poor immigrants, many of them Jews, Russians, and Germans. Because of the healthful environment, many private homes in the area also cater to wealthier TB victims. One such home is run by Mrs. Martin, with the help of her teenage daughter, Naomi. When one of her tenants decides to start a Wednesday learning circle at the state institution, the story is set into motion.

Although Miles's lectures on fossils initially bore the men, the Wednesday group flourishes when others share their expertise and life stories. There's Ephraim, a communal apple farmer; Irene, the Russian radiologist; and Leo, a former chemist who attracts the romantic interest of both Naomi and her friend Eudora, an aide at the sanitorium who longs to follow in Irene's footsteps. Meanwhile, Miles has fallen in love with Naomi, who has been serving as his driver. As one would expect, conflicts develop from misplaced romantic notions, and even the serene town of Tamarack Lake is not immune to the effects of the rising war in Europe and the political fallout at home.

Barrett is often praised for bringing science and technology into her novels, and there are lengthy sections here on chemistry, radiology, fossils, etc. I have to admit that, while I was engaged with the characters, I found the science rather awkwardly integrated and intrusive: it felt like the author was writing a novel to expound on scientific topics rather than writng a novel in which science plays a role. ( )