About The Woman in the Photo
• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (June 14, 2016)
The lives of two young women—bound by heritage and history—are changed forever by one epic event . . .
1889: Elizabeth Haberlin, of the Pittsburgh Haberlins, spends every summer with her family on a beautiful lake in an exclusive club. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains above the working-class community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the private retreat is patronized by society’s elite. Elizabeth summers with Carnegies, Mellons, and Fricks, following the rigid etiquette of her class. But Elizabeth is blessed (or cursed) with a mind of her own. Case in point: her friendship with Eugene Eggar, a Johnstown steel mill worker. And when Elizabeth discovers that the club’s poorly maintained dam is about to burst and send 20 million tons of water careening down the mountain, she risks all to warn Eugene and the townspeople in the lake’s deadly shadow.
Present day: On her eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker’s closed adoption is unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a biological relative—a nineteenth-century woman with hair and eyes likes hers—standing in a pile of rubble from an ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history. Her journey takes her from her hometown in California to Johnstown, from her present financial woes to her past of privilege, from the daily grind to an epic disaster. But once Lee’s heroic DNA is revealed, will she decide to forge a new fate?
Purchase Links
Review: Some people pick books based on their covers. Well I picked this one because it was a historical novel that is set in Pennsylvania, close to Pittsburgh, which is near to where I live. I love seeing my area come to life in print. It gives me warm fuzzy feelings.
The historical setting of the book is Johnstown, PA. The time period is right round the time of the flood that wiped out the city and killed thousands of people.
I was totally fascinated by the historical part of the story. I had read a book about the flood awhile back and loved it. This story focuses more on Johnstown and less on Pittsburgh. I loved Elizabeth she was quite a lady. She had a mind of her own and she knew how to use it.
The second part of the story is told in the present day. Clara's closed adoption is unlocked and she finds a picture of a relative. That sends her on a journey to Pennsylvania. I didn't find her story as intriguing as Elizabeth's. I think it is because I'm more a historical fiction girl than a contemporary one.
If you are looking for a novel that's a little out of the ordinary when it comes to setting, this is definitely one to try.
Rating: 4 flowers
The historical setting of the book is Johnstown, PA. The time period is right round the time of the flood that wiped out the city and killed thousands of people.
I was totally fascinated by the historical part of the story. I had read a book about the flood awhile back and loved it. This story focuses more on Johnstown and less on Pittsburgh. I loved Elizabeth she was quite a lady. She had a mind of her own and she knew how to use it.
The second part of the story is told in the present day. Clara's closed adoption is unlocked and she finds a picture of a relative. That sends her on a journey to Pennsylvania. I didn't find her story as intriguing as Elizabeth's. I think it is because I'm more a historical fiction girl than a contemporary one.
If you are looking for a novel that's a little out of the ordinary when it comes to setting, this is definitely one to try.
Rating: 4 flowers
About Mary Hogan
Mary Hogan is the NAPPA Award-winning author of seven young-adult books. Two Sisters is her first novel for adults. She lives in New York City with her husband, Bob, and their dog, Lucy.
1 comments:
I've read a bit about the Johnstown Flood. What I particularly remember is how the local people supported each other afterward - it was pretty amazing in the face of all the devastation.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
Post a Comment