Book Review: An Absence So Great

Summary:
Inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick provides a portrait of the tension between darkness and light in the soul of a young woman pursuing her professional dreams.

Despite growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is still 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 ill with mercury poisoning.

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

This is an amazing book! I love reading historic books. This gives you a picture (pun intended) of what it was like for this young girl to live in a what was then a "man's world". She wants so bad to have respect for what she does. Yet she struggles with the teachings of her youth. And then to top it off she's in love with a married man! A man, who in a loveless marriage, who doesn't do much to discourage her. She struggles to find her place in life. It's a really good book. I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to review it.

You can get a copy here.


*Disclaimer: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. The opinion is my own.*