Review: The Virtues of Oxygen by Susan Schoenberger

The Virtues of Oxygen

by Susan Schoenberger

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 242

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Holly is a young widow with two kids living in a ramshackle house in the same small town where she grew up wealthy. Now barely able to make ends meet editing the town’s struggling newspaper, she manages to stay afloat with help from her family. Then her mother suffers a stroke, and Holly’s world begins to completely fall apart.

Vivian has lived an extraordinary life, despite the fact that she has been confined to an iron lung since contracting polio as a child. Her condition means she requires constant monitoring, and the close-knit community joins together to give her care and help keep her alive. As their town buckles under the weight of the Great Recession, Holly and Vivian, two very different women both touched by pain, forge an unlikely alliance that may just offer each an unexpected salvation.

Kritters Thoughts:  What a book!  Told in two different ways, one part is through Holly's point of view and the other are podcasts by Vivian that she has left that take the reader through her childhood, young adult and adulthood with her disease.  

The set up was perfect, I loved how Holly provided the current story, but in her story the reader still saw Vivian as she spent a lot of time seeking advice from her.  In the opposite moment, Vivian's podcasts into her history were perfect.  It was the best way for the reader to find out more about her and how she ended up in the situation that she currently lived in.    

Before reading this book, I knew nothing about iron lungs and very little about polio.  I love reading books that not only provide entertainment, but also give me knowledge. 


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.