By Janice Galloway
Paperback: 9781628976458
eBook: 9781628976465
Publication Date: May 26th, 2026
Description
The widely celebrated debut from one of Scotland’s most important authors tells the stark and honest story of a woman struggling to cope with the loss of her lover.
Janice Galloway's inventive, lively first novel is about the grief and breakdown of Joy Stone, who is pushed to the limits of loneliness. After the accidental drowning of her married lover and the death of her mother, the twenty-seven-year-old drama teacher spirals into anguish and self-blame. While the novel paints a portrait of a woman enduring great emotional suffering, it is also a story of warmth and humanity; it's the wit and irony found in moments of despair that prove to be Joy's salvation.
First published in 1989 and often compared to The Bell Jar, the re-release of The Trick Is to Keep Breathing is a modern classic, and a gift to today’s readers.
Praise
“Intimate and boldly inventive, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing is a searing exploration of grief, love, depression, and survival—charting one woman’s attempt to remain intact as the self begins to splinter. Harrowing and unforgettable.” —Heather Clark, author of Red Comet
“Like Sylvia Plath, Janice Galloway uses stylized, poetic prose to describe the stark world of female depression and self-destruction.” —Newsday
“Superbly rendered . . . A woman with more problems than you, dreadfully well done.” —Kirkus Reviews
“An amazing first novel.” —Chicago Tribune
“Meticulously observed, agonizing and funny . . . Galloway delivers a thoughtful, witty chronicle of depression and potential renewal.” —Publishers Weekly
“The writing is artistic—strong, gritty, mordant in its black wit, effective at conveying the fragmented life of its subject.” —Booklist
“An account from the inside of a mind cracking up . . . its writing is as taut as a bowstring. From brilliant title to closing injunction, it hums with intelligence, clarity, wit; and, its heroine's struggle for order and meaning seduces our minds, exposes how close we all of us are to insanity. Joy, as Galloway's heroine reluctantly lets us know that she's called, is simply that dangerous step or two nearer the edge.” —The Listener
“Freshly disturbing and strange . . . From brilliant title to closing injunction, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing hums with intelligence, clarity, wit.” —The Listener
“As the title suggests, it may be taken as a woman’s survival manual, as which it offers a strikingly positive, witty and caustic guide out of personal depression.” —The Bookseller
“Poignant and original . . . A wonderfully sensitive portrait of a woman who doesn’t give up trying to find the ‘trick’ to making life go on.” —Ms.
“Its energy comes from a mix of forms: lists, plays, chunks in block type or italics and wee sections of text sliding off the edge of the page—the mutterings of some strange inner voice, threatening to overwhelm.” —Times Literary Supplement
“The Trick Is to Keep Breathing resembles Tristram Shandy as rewritten by Sylvia Plath.” —The New York Times
“This is like a Scottish Catcher in the Rye. You actually feel you’re inside this woman’s head, it is that visceral. And having experienced a downward spiral myself, I so admire her accuracy in every detail.” —Alan Cumming, The New York Times
“A real achievement; its dialogue sparks and its voice is true. For Janice Galloway the trick is simply to keep writing.” —Scotsman
Biographical Note
Janice Galloway was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1955. Her first novel, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing, was initially published by Polygon in 1989. This novel, now regarded as a Scottish classic, was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel, Scottish First Book, Italia Premio Acerbi, and Aer Lingus Awards. In 2023, Galloway was prestigiously elected A Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.