The Bohemians

This review originally appeared here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/11/what-we-read-in-october-2022/

When I heard that my book club selected a book about Dorothea Lange for book club in October, I was a little worried. A while ago I read Learning to See by Elise Hooper and really liked it, and that's also a fictional account of Dorothea Lange's life. I wasn't sure if I have room in my heart for two Lange fiction books!

However, I was very pleasantly surprised about The Bohemians. It really held its own when compared with the other Lange novel I liked! It was really unexpected in some aspects, too, with a lot of issues (like racism, rape, classism, and women's rights) portrayed with grace

Lange is portrayed as being pretty young and naïve at first, but really grows up throughout this book, and I loved seeing that progression. It's more about the first portion of her life, whereas Learning to See is about the latter, so it really worked out. I recommend both novels!

Interesting story about a real-life photographer and life in San Francisco in the 1920s-40s.

I borrowed this from the library after finishing Mary Coin. I wanted to read another book about Dorothea Lange because she is a very interesting person. I took 1 star off as I didn't like the first person perspective of the book when it was not an autobiography. I found that aspect strange since this is definitely a fictional take on Dorothea's life. The book was interesting but towards the end it seemed to cut corners which could end in confusion for the reader. All in all, it was a good book that I would recommend for anyone who likes a strong female character.