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lynguy1's review against another edition
4.0
The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik is a biographical historical fiction novel that mainly covers the life of Dorothea Lange from 1918 through 1920 along with a small amount of information about her life after that. Dorothea was an amazing photographer and this fictionalized version of her life mainly covers the early years of her career as she arrives in San Francisco, is robbed, and then meets Caroline Lee, Maynard Dixon, Ansel Adams and other famous individuals from the time. It focuses on the beginning of her career and how she transitioned from a portrait photographer for the rich and famous to photographing ordinary people.
The author brought a strong sense of time and place to the people and events in the book. While this is fiction, it includes many events that actually occurred. Her writing style was very descriptive and pulled this reader into the events and lives of Dorothea and Caroline.
While this is a book set approximately 100 years ago, many of the same issues and themes are still true today: anti-immigration sentiment, corrupt politicians, poverty, racism, and a world-wide pandemic. But there were also more uplifting themes as well including friendship, love, self-confidence, the art community, and much more.
Overall, this book captivated me and I learned a lot about Dorothea and the history of San Francisco. I wished there was a bibliography or source notes at the end. Readers that are interested in gritty 1920s San Francisco, Dorothea Lange, or historical fiction will likely enjoy this book.
Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Jasmin Darznik provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for April 06, 2021.
The author brought a strong sense of time and place to the people and events in the book. While this is fiction, it includes many events that actually occurred. Her writing style was very descriptive and pulled this reader into the events and lives of Dorothea and Caroline.
While this is a book set approximately 100 years ago, many of the same issues and themes are still true today: anti-immigration sentiment, corrupt politicians, poverty, racism, and a world-wide pandemic. But there were also more uplifting themes as well including friendship, love, self-confidence, the art community, and much more.
Overall, this book captivated me and I learned a lot about Dorothea and the history of San Francisco. I wished there was a bibliography or source notes at the end. Readers that are interested in gritty 1920s San Francisco, Dorothea Lange, or historical fiction will likely enjoy this book.
Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Jasmin Darznik provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for April 06, 2021.
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
4.0
You have to wonder what Dorothea Lange would think of San Francisco today. She arrived in the city in 1918 with her camera, on a world-wide trip that ended there when her money was stolen. She meets Caroline Lee, a shining young woman who takes Dorrie under her wing, forging a deep friendship and a successful photo portrait studio, for Dorothea Lange's dream was to be a society photographer. Of course, it's her remarkable eye that differentiates her work from others'.
Post earthquake San Francisco was a wild, bohemian place, especially in the Monkey Block where many political, artistic, and radical made their homes. There was also a deep streak of anti-Chinese sentiment which puts Caroline in the crosshairs of quite a strata of bigots. Dorrie uses her whiteness to shield Caroline and allow her art to flourish, but once she is distracted by painter Maynard DIxon, Caroline's talent and the respect she has earned puts her in danger.
This is a good, very readable book, with warmth and plenty of evocative details. What will make Dorothea Lange an icon is still in the future, and this novel sets the stage for her to become that person. Her friendship with Caroline and her circle in the Monkey Block will influence her to the end of her career.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to "The Bohemians."
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Post earthquake San Francisco was a wild, bohemian place, especially in the Monkey Block where many political, artistic, and radical made their homes. There was also a deep streak of anti-Chinese sentiment which puts Caroline in the crosshairs of quite a strata of bigots. Dorrie uses her whiteness to shield Caroline and allow her art to flourish, but once she is distracted by painter Maynard DIxon, Caroline's talent and the respect she has earned puts her in danger.
This is a good, very readable book, with warmth and plenty of evocative details. What will make Dorothea Lange an icon is still in the future, and this novel sets the stage for her to become that person. Her friendship with Caroline and her circle in the Monkey Block will influence her to the end of her career.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to "The Bohemians."
~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
jove64's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
ella1801's review against another edition
Trite, predictable, and subsequently tired. For a novel published in 2021, I feel like I’ve read a hundred others just like it.
I think part of my problem is that I’ve never really enjoyed first-person historical fiction, certainly not when the narrative perspective is that of a recognizable historical figure themselves. It feels presumptuous, so the writing better be exceptional to stay engaged. This is not that.
I think part of my problem is that I’ve never really enjoyed first-person historical fiction, certainly not when the narrative perspective is that of a recognizable historical figure themselves. It feels presumptuous, so the writing better be exceptional to stay engaged. This is not that.
geisttull's review against another edition
3.0
interesting story. made me curious about these real life people.
ilovestory's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting story about a real-life photographer and life in San Francisco in the 1920s-40s.
smalltownbookmom's review
5.0
Another great historical fiction that is so transporting and well-written and taught me a lot about a period and a person I wasn't very familiar with at all. This was AMAZING on audio, Dylan Moore as narrator was excellent! I loved learning about the early life of Dorothea Lange, before she became a famous documentary photographer of the Dust Bowl and migrant crisis of the 1930s and 40s. This story mainly takes place in 1918 San Francisco, right as the height of the Spanish Flu and anti-Asian sentiments were strongest (it's really sad how little has changed from over a hundred years ago!). A great story of friendship and the challenges of being an independent woman at this time (particularly one with a physical disability, or of Asian heritage like her friend Caroline). Dorothea established her own Photography studio and balanced her work with marriage and motherhood. Definitely recommend this for anyone that enjoys great historical fiction or is looking for something to read after finishing Kristin Hannah's The four winds.
CW: rape and anti-Asian racism
Favorite quotes:
"Despite all the hiding they did, people wanted to be known, to be understood. Even more than a desire to be admired, what they wanted and so seldom got, was to be seen."
"Three weeks after the announcement that the Spanish lady was gone for good, thousands more fell sick. Half the time you couldn't bring yourself to think what it meant, and the other half you couldn't think of anything else. That the masks were useless, that the vaccines were impotent, that so many more would die."
"Lodged deep in me, deep as muscle, bone and blood, was my idea of myself as a cripple. I couldn't say the word aloud but it was at the center of everything. Polio had plucked me out of an ordinary life, which gave me a sort of freedom. If I hadn't have gotten sick I might never have become a person that was happiest in a dark room. And yet shame was in my drop foot. Loneliness was there, the constant fear of exposure and the burden of concealment, it was all there in the drag of my leg."
"Those who'd never liked the Chinese, who believed that they were a backward race, a menace to our public health, as well as to our racial purity, were increasingly vocal."
"A photograph is only a piece of paper with a silver image burned onto it but there is something about some of them, the rare few, that you can't call anything but an act of love, and you give it not to only one person but you give it to the world."
"There'd never be a more magnificent time than those early years in San Francisco. I'd landed there by chance, alone and lost but in the end there was no place I'd ever love as much or miss more."
CW: rape and anti-Asian racism
Favorite quotes:
"Despite all the hiding they did, people wanted to be known, to be understood. Even more than a desire to be admired, what they wanted and so seldom got, was to be seen."
"Three weeks after the announcement that the Spanish lady was gone for good, thousands more fell sick. Half the time you couldn't bring yourself to think what it meant, and the other half you couldn't think of anything else. That the masks were useless, that the vaccines were impotent, that so many more would die."
"Lodged deep in me, deep as muscle, bone and blood, was my idea of myself as a cripple. I couldn't say the word aloud but it was at the center of everything. Polio had plucked me out of an ordinary life, which gave me a sort of freedom. If I hadn't have gotten sick I might never have become a person that was happiest in a dark room. And yet shame was in my drop foot. Loneliness was there, the constant fear of exposure and the burden of concealment, it was all there in the drag of my leg."
"Those who'd never liked the Chinese, who believed that they were a backward race, a menace to our public health, as well as to our racial purity, were increasingly vocal."
"A photograph is only a piece of paper with a silver image burned onto it but there is something about some of them, the rare few, that you can't call anything but an act of love, and you give it not to only one person but you give it to the world."
"There'd never be a more magnificent time than those early years in San Francisco. I'd landed there by chance, alone and lost but in the end there was no place I'd ever love as much or miss more."
marilynw's review against another edition
4.0
The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik (Author), Dylan Moore (Narrator)
Before I listened to this audiobook, my knowledge of Dorothea Lange was mostly having seen many of her famous Depression era photos. This book mostly focuses on Dorothea's early years in San Francisco, during the 1920s, so I took to the internet to learn all about her entire life and works, those of her one time husband Maynard Dixon, and the other artists that were part of the Monkey Block, an artists' colony and the bohemian heart of San Francisco.
We hear about many of the artists and some of the politicians and the politics of the day. Racism, the Spanish flu ravaging the country, corrupt politicians, and riots by various factions, mirror so much of what goes on today. Very little is known about the real life Chinese assistant that Dorothea employed during the time that she opened and ran her portrait studio but the author has turned that assistant into a fictional character named Caroline Lee. Through Caroline's fleshed out story we are able to see deeper into the prejudices towards the Chinese people in San Francisco and Caroline is the means to introducing Dorothea to the Monkey Block world of art, politics, and freedom from the rules of straight laced society.
Dorothea herself felt constricted by the expectations of society. She wanted to make a living with photography but would only ever be able to do the grunt work of a photographer's assistant if she had stayed on the east coast. Instead, she made her way to San Francisco and once she was able to have enough money to feed and house herself, she set her sites on opening her own portrait studio. She was smart, ambitious, and knew a bit about prejudices because of her time being shunned due to childhood polio and the fact that she walked with a limp.
I enjoyed this story but it mostly left me wanting to know more about Dorothea and the artists of her world. The book primarily focuses on her early days and it's very interesting to see her history that led to her later work as a famous documentary photographer and photojournalist. Dorothea was a pioneer who put her comfort aside so that she could document the lives of those who suffered the most during the Great Depression. Dorothea also showed the Japanese American internment camps although most of those photos were not seen publicly during the war. Dorothea's life and work at the portrait studio led her to want to freedom of travel and getting to know and show her subjects in a much more personal way and she achieved her goal with great success.
Published April 6, 2021
Before I listened to this audiobook, my knowledge of Dorothea Lange was mostly having seen many of her famous Depression era photos. This book mostly focuses on Dorothea's early years in San Francisco, during the 1920s, so I took to the internet to learn all about her entire life and works, those of her one time husband Maynard Dixon, and the other artists that were part of the Monkey Block, an artists' colony and the bohemian heart of San Francisco.
We hear about many of the artists and some of the politicians and the politics of the day. Racism, the Spanish flu ravaging the country, corrupt politicians, and riots by various factions, mirror so much of what goes on today. Very little is known about the real life Chinese assistant that Dorothea employed during the time that she opened and ran her portrait studio but the author has turned that assistant into a fictional character named Caroline Lee. Through Caroline's fleshed out story we are able to see deeper into the prejudices towards the Chinese people in San Francisco and Caroline is the means to introducing Dorothea to the Monkey Block world of art, politics, and freedom from the rules of straight laced society.
Dorothea herself felt constricted by the expectations of society. She wanted to make a living with photography but would only ever be able to do the grunt work of a photographer's assistant if she had stayed on the east coast. Instead, she made her way to San Francisco and once she was able to have enough money to feed and house herself, she set her sites on opening her own portrait studio. She was smart, ambitious, and knew a bit about prejudices because of her time being shunned due to childhood polio and the fact that she walked with a limp.
I enjoyed this story but it mostly left me wanting to know more about Dorothea and the artists of her world. The book primarily focuses on her early days and it's very interesting to see her history that led to her later work as a famous documentary photographer and photojournalist. Dorothea was a pioneer who put her comfort aside so that she could document the lives of those who suffered the most during the Great Depression. Dorothea also showed the Japanese American internment camps although most of those photos were not seen publicly during the war. Dorothea's life and work at the portrait studio led her to want to freedom of travel and getting to know and show her subjects in a much more personal way and she achieved her goal with great success.
Published April 6, 2021