Breath - Martha Mason

Breath - Martha Mason (2003)

Having a bit of a tiresome week, it was good to read this book and be grateful for all that I have in my life.  Martha Mason was just eleven, when she was made a quadraplegic from the Polio virus, which resulted in her spending her next sixty one years in an iron lung.  Relying on her parents to support her, she becomes top in her class in high school and then at university, and continues to learn throughout her life.

When her father dies, she is forced to take on more of a role of caring for her mother who spends her final years battling with dementia, and Martha eventually with the help of carers, runs the household.  You have to admire her strength and devotion to her mother, and think of what an amazing person she is to barely complain about her sixty year imprisonment.  Me, I don't think I would last a week.

3.5/5