An Absence So Great – Book Review & Giveaway

This contest is now closed. I used random.org to generate a random number. It picked #4. Congratulations  to Tabby. I have sent you an email. Thanks to everyone who entered. I have another giveaway coming up. A movie this time. Check back soon!

An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick is inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century.

Eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele is a photographer who operates photographic studios for those ill with mercury poisoning, while saving for her own studio.

She exiles herself from her family and friends to move to other towns. Exiled because she is trying to remove herself from a forbidden love situation. But no matter where she moves to, a job she loves can’t keep those painful memories from seeping into her heart.

She really does try, (that’s why she kept moving), but how can you stop loving someone?

The last chapter of the book is written in diary form, where Jessie tells of her life. I love this line:

When I’m feeling low, I pull out my photo album and remember as I did that day that photography was my life only until I discovered what life is really made of: the settings, props , and poses we encounter, then put aside so we can cherish family and faith, live fully, and abide until we go.

That’s what life is really all about – family and faith. Not jobs, and certainly not “stuff”.

I love biographies and historical fiction and An Absence So Great is both genres in one book.

In the Authors Notes, and An Interview With The Author, both in the back of the book, the author shares her grandmothers story and tells what parts of the book are fictionalized.

This is Book Two, but you can enjoy this book without having read the first one. I know I did. But I will be looking for the first book, A Flickering Light.

WaterBrook Multnomah sent me a copy of An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick to give away! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. So easy, right?

This giveaway will end on Friday March 9th, at 8 pm, when I’ll use random.org to pick a winner.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. They also provided me with a copy to giveaway.