Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Paperback
$14.80

List Price: $16.00 Details

Save: $1.20 (8%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, April 2 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 9 hrs 33 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$14.80 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Thursday, April 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by -OnTimeBooks-

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Follow the author

David Hare

Follow

The Breath of Life Paperback – August 13, 2003

by David Hare (Author)

17

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$14.80","priceAmount":14.80,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"80","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"mcNe2aQ%2FCEyGtHmRsWZDWBT243NlKh6hLUxlfESIet5p0kMAQwWsVUmuLuDWKEEYlc2q%2Bc2SFHzHHkLU3rvxFV0NHOQr12VJGGu2bKzfegTXNb%2F14em4MtE9tWbOGcoWnt3AlYXbevY%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.99","priceAmount":8.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"mcNe2aQ%2FCEyGtHmRsWZDWBT243NlKh6hCuC%2FTuEr7rRZNpV89ZFThfGxDQ%2BYKlUFZ05v8ZchQKIu9xA6oP1W3cyp5a8x%2F2D%2BGyZRBe9N%2BDNs%2BoNPXPZQEnJCCOJyCDZnjpnTNQbZg5Y3t6yJzXdDd1Eb3nSsZrBUctD6e3E4lZzTbb1Pcsr%2BHjQFanXnICZM","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge." Gauguin's epigram serves as the motto for this moral tale of two women, both in their sixties, whose lives are interwoven in ways neither of them yet understands. Madeline Palmer is a retired curator, living alone on the Isle of Wight. One day Frances Beale comes to her door, a woman she has met only once, who is now enjoying sudden success, late in life, as a popular novelist. The result is a surprising and profound meditation on what can emerge when a man's wife and mistress finally confront each other.

Print length

96 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date

August 13, 2003
Dimensions

5 x 0.25 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0571215939
ISBN-13

978-0571215935
See all details

David Hare
41
Paperback
41 offers from $8.80
David Hare
39
Paperback
50 offers from $1.35
David Hare
16
Paperback
51 offers from $3.50
David Hare
Paperback
13 offers from $6.35
David Hare
214
Paperback
21 offers from $6.50
David Hare
20
Paperback
32 offers from $1.75

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Hare is a playwright, screenwriter, and theater and film director. He was won numerous awards and is best known for his screenplays for The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008) and the plays Plenty (which he adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep in 1985), Racing Demon (1990), Skylight (1997), and Amy's View (1998). He lives in London.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition (August 13, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571215939
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571215935
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.25 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,144,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,143 in British & Irish Dramas & Plays

Customer Reviews:
17

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David Hare

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

17 global ratings

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Taylor Brock

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2016

No problems.

Wife and Mistress meet for the first time.

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

David Hare is an excellent playwright. His command of the English language and subtle nuance are a delight for any actress lucky enough to play either of these roles I’m sure.
The only problem I have is with the subject matter. Anyone who has been cheated on would find it difficult to have any sympathy for the mistress character and in my opinion the playwright has too much .

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2016

Verified Purchase

had to read for school play to help daughter

Helpful

Mary Whipple

"Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge."

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2004

Opening in October, 2002, and originally starring stage legends Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, this two-person play by David Hare is totally dependent on superior acting. Set on the Isle of Wight in a Victorian seaside house, now fallen on hard times, the action takes place in Madeleine Palmer's flat in the course of one day and night. The tension is established in the opening lines with Frances Beale's arrival. Madeleine is resentful and inhospitable, and Frances hopeful and a bit romantic. Frances, we soon discover, is an author who has decided to write a memoir, not her usual fiction, about the long affair Madeleine had with Frances's ex-husband, radical lawyer Martin Beale. She wants to talk with Madeleine about "literary ethics" regarding the proposed memoir.

A broad social satire in which the two women reveal themselves to be quite different in outlook but united in their desire for "the word the Americans use...closure," they explore their separate relationships with Martin, their views of English and American society, and their views of writing, and fiction, in particular. They poke fun, superficially, at the legal profession ("Lawyers are like priests [in America]."), the American pre-occupation with diets ("Does this chicken have skin on it?"), retirement destinations for the elderly, gentrification, and the belief that because Americans are richer, they consider their "dramas" more significant.

It is in the women's attitudes toward fiction, well developed, that we also see the primary differences in their relationships with Martin. Madeleine, a realist, does not read fiction, believing that the most important story is who the author is underneath the story. Fiercely independent, Madeleine had met Martin in Alabama during the civil rights struggle but did not need him to "affirm her life." Though Frances married him, had children, and was the perfect wife and mother, Madeleine believes Frances's life has not had meaning and that she has become a writer in order to "give things significance which do not have significance." A novelist like Frances, Madeleine believes, "reorders...Things acquire weight, they acquire meaning," that does not exist in everyday life.

Wry and full of hilariously ironic comments, the play is also a poignant story of two women who loved the same man. As they compare notes and come to new understanding of Martin, each other, and who they have become, the reader is entertained on many levels, not least of which is the sophisticated analysis of writing, fiction, and its place in our lives. The dialogue sparkles, and the tension-filled relationship between the women is plausible and convincing. Mary Whipple

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

LDV0924

Beautifully Written

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

A showcase for mature actresses.

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2013

Verified Purchase

I could hear the voices and their line-readings of both Dench & Smith for who the play was obviously written.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Pers

Fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

Alas, I missed seeing Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in the London production of Breath of Life, but because both actors' work is familiar to me, I had no trouble imagining them as I was reading this play, and as a consequence I found the play fascinating and thought-provoking.

One person found this helpful

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Image Unavailable

Follow the author