Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother's photo album to capture the interplay betw...
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reviews
Apr 04, 2009
Jane
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This is a book I wrote. But I'm posting this review for a Canadian reader who had trouble posting it. "In her indubitable way, Jane has exercised once again her God given gift for writing. With this story she brings to light a tale she has woven around her grandmother, Jessie Ann Gaebele’s life. It was a life which offers us a glimpse into the background of the little known profession --- early photography. By showing us Jessie’s keen interest in this art form, Jane has given those of us
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Mar 23, 2009
Carol
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From the first page to the last I felt like Jesse's shadow, seeing what she saw, feeling what she felt, as she experienced new and confusing feelings that challenged her faith and the standards of a loving family and conservative community in an earlier time. This story is rich and compelling, blending love, acceptance and forgiveness into painful and difficult circumstances. A wonderful read.
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Mar 10, 2010
Megan
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Set in the early 1900s this Christian historical centers around Jessie Gaebele who has a heart for photography. She finds herself working for Mr. F.J. Bauer in his studio and darkroom, learning the techniques. As time passes, Mr. Bauer suffers debilitating illnesses at two separate times, leaving Jessie and her friend Voe running his studio, while he recovers at home with his wife and children. Jessie proves more than competent as she excels at both the art and business side of studio photograph
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Jul 08, 2009
Mary
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This is a fictional biography of the author's grandmother during the first decade of the 20th century in Minnesota (while she was 15 - 18 years old). Jessie Ann Gaebele loves photography - especially landscapes - and dreams of owning her own photography business one day. As the middle sister, who has completed 8th grade, in a family that struggles financially, when it is Jessie's turn to get a job to help out, she is hired by photographer, F. J. Bauer as his assistant (along with friend, Voe Kup
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Apr 08, 2009
Rachel
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Jessie Gaebele loves photography. Her mind frames potential images everywhere she looks in her Minnesota town. Jessie is fortunate enough to find a placement at FJ Bauer’s photography studio where she burgeons into a working and professional woman whose hand at portraits and talent for putting “sitting” clients at ease prove her a natural.
I enjoyed this turn- of -the -century tale about a spunky woman who has the rare chance to make something independent of her self: regardless More...
I enjoyed this turn- of -the -century tale about a spunky woman who has the rare chance to make something independent of her self: regardless More...
Dec 26, 2009
Susan
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This book sounded very interesting to me, a young girl at the beginning of the 20th century becomes apprentice to a photographer in Minnesota, “biographical fiction” based on the author's grandmother. I was delighted when a generous winner of an Advanced Reading Copy passed it on to me.
As an ARC, it did have errors that most likely were corrected prior to publication, as I expect in an uncorrected proof. Aside from that, I'm afraid it is just not my kind of book. The author is a wri More...
As an ARC, it did have errors that most likely were corrected prior to publication, as I expect in an uncorrected proof. Aside from that, I'm afraid it is just not my kind of book. The author is a wri More...
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Aug 22, 2010
Auntie
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I did enjoy this book for the historical aspect of the dawn of photography in the turn of this century. It was also a good exploration of human emotions and what a Christian has at our disposal to protect others from unhealthy preoccupations. This was the story of Jane Kirkpatrick's grandmother, and by virtue of that fact, a quite intriguing read. Our book club majority decided that the next book in the series would be a "must read"!
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Jun 29, 2009
Jane
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This is the first book I have read by Kirkpatrick. She visited our local bookstore and I purchased an autographed copy of her book. I'm glad I did. Kirkpatrick bases her book on family history, drawing from old photographs, verbal history and documents/letters to weave a tale largely based on the lives of actual people, including her Grandmother Jessie (lead character). Jessie is a young 16 year old in the early 1900's. Raised in a family with strong Christian values, Jessie is a young lady
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May 20, 2010
Kathy
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There were two aspects of A Flickering Light that drew me in personally. The story is set around 1907 in Minnesota… a time frame and location I recently researched for my own ancestry. My grandparents came from Browerville, Minnesota and were married in 1909. Also, like the main character I also worked for a professional photographer for three years, from the age of 15 to 18, thus many memories were sparked (enough so that I Googled Richard Weede the photographer for whom I worked).
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Jan 05, 2010
Tara
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This was an enjoyable read for the most part. It is written somewhat like a memoir and told from the viewpoint of a teenage girl in the early 1900s. Jessie comes from a very religious family with very set ideas regarding women and "their place," but Jessie is a bit of a black sheep and despite some misgivings from her parents, she desires a career in photography. Photography in the 1900s was a mostly male dominated profession and the chemicals used often had negative effects on the
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Aug 09, 2009
Chris
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A slow-moving story about a young woman in the early 1900s who aspires to become a photographer. Jessie Gaebele takes a job as an assistant to photographer F. J. Bauer, a man whose marriage has suffered since the accidental death of his young son. Jessie and Bauer are drawn to each other and, though they never actually commit adultery, they do share intimacy. When Jessie's secret desires are revealed to her family, she realizes she must leave town altogether to escape the temptation of forbid
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May 31, 2011
Georgia
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Well, I'm absolutely captivated by Kirkpatrick--and am headed toward reading everything she's written. Her historical fiction is rich with imagery, with characters of depth, powerful in emotion and thought, with authentic conflicts.
Jessie Gaebele is a gifted young woman who has a dream of becoming a photographer--long before women are recognized in that field. Her goals, her values, her dreams set her life in motion, when an unintended potential romance with her married employer c More...
Jessie Gaebele is a gifted young woman who has a dream of becoming a photographer--long before women are recognized in that field. Her goals, her values, her dreams set her life in motion, when an unintended potential romance with her married employer c More...
Jan 27, 2010
Klinkwink
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Early photography did not make use of flickering light.
The "flickering light" in the title could refer to how this young woman's burning passion to become a photographer was frequently damped by circumstances surrounding women in this era. But it also could refer to the confusion in her affairs of the heart, which also burned. Other reviews give enough of the plot. Let me just say that I found this book to be surprisingly engaging as it showed a young woman who would not admi More...
The "flickering light" in the title could refer to how this young woman's burning passion to become a photographer was frequently damped by circumstances surrounding women in this era. But it also could refer to the confusion in her affairs of the heart, which also burned. Other reviews give enough of the plot. Let me just say that I found this book to be surprisingly engaging as it showed a young woman who would not admi More...
Nov 28, 2011
Paula
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Another wonderful Jane Kirkpatrick novel! I just love her writing and this one did not disappoint. Written about Jane's very own Grandmother, this story brings Jessie Gaebele's love of photography and dreams of her own studio alive. Jessie is a young girl, working to help out her family and just happens to get a postition that she loves, at a photography studio in her hometown of Winona, Minnesota. Jessie's joy at learning her trade and expanding her talent is only dampened by her worry over
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Nov 28, 2010
Loralee
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Jesse's quest to support her family and learn photography engaged me, but what I found most compelling was the story of her relationship with her employer, as two honorable people with the best of intentions come dangerously close to crossing the line. A much harder story to write than either a traditional love story with a happy ending, or a sordid tale of unbridled passion.
The author always sets her historical novels in beautifully constructed and well-researched settings. Her desc More...
The author always sets her historical novels in beautifully constructed and well-researched settings. Her desc More...
Jun 12, 2009
Kimberly
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Mar 28, 2009
Stephanie
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Am reading an ARC of this book.
The author is quite accomplished.
I met she & her agent last fall at a writers' conference.
The author is quite accomplished.
I met she & her agent last fall at a writers' conference.
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Feb 10, 2012
Anne
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Jun 21, 2009
Robyn
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I really appreciate Jane Kirkpatrick's ability to write good historical fiction. I have enjoyed most of her past novels of this same genre, and this one didn't disappoint either. The real life character she researches and creates a story around in this book is her own grandmother, Jessie Ann Gaebele - a young photographer in the early 1900s(a time period in which photography was an emerging art form and women photographers were very rare). I love the way she incorporates accurate details from
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Jul 29, 2009
Cynthia
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My best read of 2009! Jane Kirkaptrick has done a masterful job in this creative non-fiction story of her grandmother, a woman with ambition to be a photographer in an era when few women managed such a career. Jane's research makes the story real. I felt I walked the street of Winona, Minnesota with her grandmother's young self. Jane's writing, as usual, is beautiful. I look forward to the next installment in this story. Jane's work is instructive for my own writing as I seek to build snippets o
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Sep 30, 2009
Carrie
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I love photography and historical fiction and Jane Kirkpatrick brings these two things together in A Flickering Light. It was an easy read and an interesting glimpse into the life of a young girl (a character based on the author's grandma). I enjoyed walking through Jesse's journey into becoming a "working woman".... a bit taboo for that time. I was inspired by Jesse's determination of holding onto her dream to become a professional photographer and not letting her environment, cir
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Mar 24, 2011
Suzanne
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Jessie Ann Gaeble is born in the late 1800’s. During this era, many children do not attend high school. They find jobs to support their family or start their career. Jessie is one of these children.
She loves to take pictures. She is interested in every aspect of photography. Jessie is overjoyed when her uncle gives her a camera one year and she treasures it with every breath that she takes. She takes it wherever she goes because she never knows when a butterfly will flit by or the More...
She loves to take pictures. She is interested in every aspect of photography. Jessie is overjoyed when her uncle gives her a camera one year and she treasures it with every breath that she takes. She takes it wherever she goes because she never knows when a butterfly will flit by or the More...
Oct 01, 2009
Arletta
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As usual, Jane Kirkpatrick evokes the time, place and mores of the period she writes of. This time it is early 20th century and the coming of age of her grandmother, a budding photographer. Jane's use of her grandmother and would-be lover's photographs and accompanying description by grandmother Jessie add a unique dimension to the work. The story of forbidden love, the religious restrictions that contain that relationship and Jessie's drive to pursue her dream are set against the mid-western li
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Oct 23, 2009
Lila
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This is a novel set in early 20th century Minnesota detailing the life of Jessie Gaebele. As a fifteen-year old Jessie already knows what she loves and wants to do for the rest of her life: photography. From the moment she gets her first camera from her uncle, she is enchanted by the nature and landscape and wants to capture their beauty forever. Things get complicated when Jessie gets a job in a photo studio of F. J. Bauer and there is now a real possibility that her dream may become a reality
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May 01, 2009
Clockstein
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A Flickering Light by Jane Kirkpatrick in the first in the historical fiction series A Portrait of a Woman. Kirkpatrick has fictionalized the story of her grandmother Jessie Gaeble who worked as a photographer's assistant in 1907 Winona, Minnesota for F.J. Bauer. Jessie is a feisty, tiny girl of fifteen when she starts working at Bauer's studio with her own ideas about how photographs should be taken. Bauer takes her under his wing and teaches her how to pose photos, develop them, and run a stud
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Jun 14, 2009
Amanda
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A really great historical fiction novel centered around a young woman in who pursues photography even though it was not a field for women in the early 1900s. The book spans several years of her life as she works for a local photographer and falls in love with him even though he is a much older and married man. The author tells the story from multiple points of view and when the novel concluded I felt I knew all of the characters well, not just the main character. I'm looking forward to the next
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Dec 10, 2009
Beth
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Based on her Grandmothers life, this story of Jessie Ann Gaebele who is a middle child critized by an older sister and mother who needs to work and is lucky enough to be permitted in 1907 to apprentice with a photographer. Her desire is to run her own studio. This is a tough sell in that time when women were supposed to be homemakers. The detail of her everday life in Minnesotaand the depictions of her struggle against love or showing it to her employer feel truthful and real.
Sep 19, 2011
Cheryl
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 25, 2011
Sarah
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I had a hard time getting into this book at first, but it picked up about half way through. The thing I enjoyed the most about it was the amount of research that went into the book. It sounds like Kirkpatrick went to a lot of trouble to research the every day life of the town of Winona, along with researching the life of her grandmother and all the people she dealt with on a daily basis. I am looking forward to reading the next installment of this series.
Dec 07, 2010
Fifteen year old Jessie takes a job as a photographer's assistant and falls in love with photography... and her boss. The details of small town Minnesota life in 1907, early photographic techniques, and the beginnings of Mayo Clinic, will thrill historical readers. Characters' emotions, especially Mrs. Bauer's descent into mental illness, are exceptionally well drawn. The author is commended writing her grandmother's life with such courage.
