The Mystery of Breathing

I have always liked Dr. Klass' writing, I work in a children's hospital, and I love mysteries, so this was right up my alley. The ending was somewhat unsatisfactory, but not that difficult to see the end of the road for the villain...In fact, I realized at the end, that it might be less a mystery and more a treatise on the glass ceiling or treatment of professional women even in a profession that is becoming dominated by women.

The Mystery of Breathing works on a number of levels. The novel is unsurpassed as a piece of literary fiction, but it also works as an intellectually astute character study, a riveting thriller, and as an insight into the world of premature babies and the medical professionals who fight to save their lives. Klass peppers her narrative with short, sharp sentences and alternatively jumps between the past and the present; the result is a narrative that has an almost urgent and frenzied quality, fitting perfectly with the concurrent themes of ambition and career. The main protagonist in the Mystery of Breathing is Maggie Claymore, a leading neonatologist at a busy Boston hospital. She's absolutely committed to her work - she works long hours, and fanatically assists in bringing the smallest and sickest babies back to life. Her loyal husband Dan, who also works as a doctor for the underprivileged, understands her commitment, and generally supports her in her endeavors. Maggie is organized, disciplined, and reliable - "a neat person who needs her world to be neat." She's also an excellent, compassionate and ambitious practitioner, but she has a tendency to be egotistical, arrogant and "far too wedded to her own arguments." She thinks nothing of berating other doctors and inexperienced medical interns for being hesitant and not knowing enough about their job. The novel opens with her dramatic resuscitation of a premature baby, who teetered on the verge of death until Maggie's skill helps the tiny lungs take a breath. Then, in front of nurses and staff, she chews out a resident for not being more prepared for emergencies. The same day she gets a malicious and hate-filled letter that vilifies her as being evil and self-satisfied. Soon letters blasting her competence and hinting at her responsibility in the death of a child are posted on walls around the hospital and are being sent to hospital officials. One evening, she returns to her office to find a bedpan full of someone's nasty diarrhea on her desk. Maggie's world of professional security and temerity begins to fall apart as the administrators hire a detective to frantically find the letter writer. But the damage is already done - her co-workers are whispering behind her back, and many of the colleagues start admitting that Maggie - determined to save every baby's life no matter the cost - is far too aggressive in reviving infants who will more than likely end up with brain damage or serious health problems. Klass juxtaposes Maggie's modern dramas with a look back at her life as a child, and as a teenager where her religiously conservative, unfocussed mother, Annalisa tries to instill a "cramped and pinched life" into Maggie. Good friends who felt sorry for her poor and single state so carefully scrutinized Annalisa. But Maggie is an example of a modern woman who has reinvented herself, her home, her sex life, and her personal relationships. She realizes that she doesn't have to grow up

Written by a pediatrician and realistically set in a large, urban teaching hospital, The Mystery of Breathing fully deserves five stars. Dr. Klass takes on an array of issues, arranges them in a masterfully crafted work of fiction, and presents them to the reader to be reckoned with. The challenges of sexism which face strong women who brave traditionally male dominated careers are no longer news. However, in addition to the day to day, garden variety glass ceilings encountered by even the brightest of women, Klass takes us further into the darkness-- when pathological insecurity and paranoia compell someone to frightening levels of destructive behavior. The hospital environment also harbors other complex relationships. As a nurse myself, I felt that Klass successfully portrays the complicated interdependence between nurses and physicians. I found her depth of understanding, as well as her clarity of expression as to the nature of this dynamic, very refreshing. Klass also effectively explores the process by which a very bright child eventually defines her own adult life, but still returns to the comforting familiarity of her roots in the face of overwhelming stress. Specifically, Maggie begins to pray again, and perhaps more genuinely than before, in the wake of her persecution. Contrary to some of the other reviews, I enjoyed the manner in which the culprit was revealed to the reader, but not to Maggie. And, despite the profound losses suffered by Maggie and her friends, the novel left me with a feeling of hope and possibility. Indeed, the ending allowed for any number of possibilities as to what might happen later. Specifically, I feel certain that, as a result of Donna's work, the culprit will ultimately be discovered when he inevitably begins to harass David Susser. And I also believe that, just as every burden brings a gift, Maggie will revaluate her life and her career, redefining herself once again both personally and professionally. While I see her always as a physician, I imagine her personal relationships, especially with her husband, will strengthen her spirit at work. Finally, I miss Sarah and Penelope, Peter, Dan, and, most of all, Maggie. Therein lies my true criteria for a five star read!

I picked up this book because the author was, well, Perri Klass. It's hard to imagine her writing anything that is not worthwhile and this time she surpassed my expectations.Heroine Maggie Claymore seems to have a lot going for her: a distinguished career as a neonatologist at a prestigious teaching hospital, a supportive husband, a house and some good friends. Yet when she begins receiving anonymous accusations, she becomes vulnerable. Her accuser doesn't stop with poison pen letters, but instead goes on to post warnings in public hallways.Some reviewers say this novel deals with the psychology of Maggie Claymore, a complex achiever who can intimidate students and colleagues. In fact I believe it's a case study in the politics and sociology of accusation. And the lesson Maggie -- and we, the readers -- learn is that an anonymous accusation can have more power than first-hand evidence.As the media begins to take on this theme, we can begin to recognize a pattern. High-status accusers can escape the consequences of their accusation. Accused individuals who seem "different" or who are "outsiders" are more vulnerable to accusations and less likely to escape the consequences. Maggie's hospital hires an investigator, Donna Leon. Like all characters in this thoughtful novel, Donna has flaws and it's hard to like her. Yet she delivers the goods. The hospital's reaction is classic. They're interested less in justice than in preserving status and status quo.I read this book after renting a DVD version of Capturing the Friedmans, an award-winning documentary. The parallels are striking. Interestingly, I have found few research studies of accusation in the literatures of psychology and sociology. Hopefully this book will provoke further recognition of the power of accusations to create new victims.

This is the story of a neonatologist at a Boston hospital - a successful woman "not quite" 40 and happily married who is fiercely devoted to the babies she treats. One day she receives an anonymous letter accusing her of being a danger to her patients and disliked by her colleagues. This campaign broadens to posters planted in hallways and in restrooms, to letters sent to the hospital administration, finally accusing her of having committed a mercy killing of a sick child a year before.I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was gripping; I read it in one "extended" sitting. It was not, ultimately, a "medical thriller". We learn the identity of the letter writer 2/3 of the way through the book and the motive for the campaign is not pat - not clear cut revenge or jealousy just an act of neuroses that in many respects topples Maggie's life. The idea that stuck in my mind for days was the power of anonymous accusations: the investigation seems to focus first on the validity of the accusations about Maggie and somewhat secondarily on the identity of the accuser. Everyone seems to look at her askew - or is it just the paranoia growing inside of Maggie? Ultimately this book had some loose ends and imperfections, but it was a gripping quasi medical thriller with character development.