How does the author structure the novel, The Air You Breathe?

The novel spans Dores’s lifetime up to the point of her narration, 1920–2015. The novel is divided into 10 parts, which each consist of Dores’s song lyrics and two chapters. The songs begin the parts, and the second chapter is titled after the song. The chronological portion of the novel continues with each part’s second chapter, which span the years 1929–1946.