{an absence so great}

An Absence So Great

by Jane Kirkpatrick

While growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is at a crossroads. Hoping she’s put an unfortunate romantic longing behind her as “water under the bridge,” she exiles herself to Milwaukee to operate photographic studios for those owners who have fallen ill with mercury poisoning.

Jessie gains footing in her dream to one day operate her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep painful memories from seeping into her heart when the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.

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{my thoughts}

 

An Absence So Great was a very interesting read - the author uses stories from her own family to weave Jessie's tale. I found the details of photography before color film, digital cameras, Photoshop and the like to be fairly fascinating. The book even includes real photos and the "stories" behind them {I found myself hoping for the next photo to come along so I could see what it'd be about!}.

 

My only problem with this book is that it's actually the second, a follow up for A Flickering Light. Although I made it through the book and figured out the story, it would have been easier if I'd read the first book, well, first. Now I plan on reading A Flickering Light to catch anything I'd missed.

 

Overall a great book, but you might want to start at the beginning - I hear it's a very good place to start. :)

 

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.