La-la-la.
{sticking fingers in ears & shielding eyes}
I'm not reading your review yet because I'm in the middle of this book:)
Perhaps I'll be visit again tomorrow when I've finished?
Reviews
4
A Flickering Light This biographical fiction by Jane Kirkpatrick is the “true story, imagined” about the author’s grandmother who was a photographer’s assistant from Winona, MN in the early 1800’s.
I LOVED this book for many reasons and in no particular order:
1. As many of you already know, I love history stories.
2. Because my latest hobby is photography, this book was particularly interesting as it describes the dangers of and advancements in photography in the 1800’s.
3. I LOVED this author’s style. I love the author’s chapters here and there which explored a photographic term or technique and then used it to further explain or enhance the story followed by other chapters which followed the theme set by the most recent photographic term chapter. I hope that makes sense. Here’s an example:
The chapter titled “Exposure” in the middle of the book starts out by saying, “The purpose is to allow light onto the film and therefore unveil something that would be otherwise hidden; that’s what an exposure really is.” The chapter goes on to further develop the photographic term as well as relate it to the story thus far. Some of the subsequent chapter titles were: Double Exposure, Too Much Exposure, etc.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED this particular style/feature so I chose to review that part of the book instead of the actual storyline which is as follows from the Publisher’s information:
“Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams. She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed.
Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality.
With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man’s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer.
This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing—and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.”
I was very excited to read that this book is the first a new series, Portrait of a Woman. I can hardly wait to read future books in this series! They didn’t send me any of these books to give away, but I’ll be happy to loan this out so if you’d like to borrow it, please contact me.
AUTHOR BIO: Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award
from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.
