The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik Book Review! #TheBohemians @jasmindarznik

 

A dazzling novel of one of America's most celebrated photographers, Dorothea Lange, exploring the wild years in San Francisco that awakened her career-defining grit, compassion, and daring.

In 1918, Dorothea Lange leaves the East Coast for California, where a disaster kick-starts a new life. Her friendship with Caroline Lee, a vivacious, straight-talking woman with a complicated past, gives her entrée into Monkey Block, an artists' colony and the bohemian heart of San Francisco. Dazzled by Caroline and her friends, Dorothea is catapulted into a heady new world of freedom, art, and politics. She also finds herself unexpectedly--and unwisely--falling in love with Maynard Dixon, a brilliant but troubled painter. Dorothea and Caroline eventually create a flourishing portrait studio, but a devastating betrayal pushes their friendship to the breaking point and alters the course of their lives.

The Bohemians captures San Francisco in the glittering and gritty 1920s, with cameos from such legendary figures as Mabel Dodge, Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams, and DH Lawrence . At the same time, it is eerily resonant with contemporary themes, as anti-immigration sentiment, corrupt politicians, and the Spanish flu bring tumult to the city--and as the gift of friendship and the possibility of self-invention persist against the ferocious pull of history. 

There comes a point when the secrets you've kept most hidden become the stories you must tell. I was born in Iran and moved with my family to the U.S. when I was five. Even after earning a PhD in English from Princeton, I never considered becoming an author. But accidentally finding out about my mother's secret life changed that. In 2011, I published my first book, The Good Daughter, which tells the story of how my mother was married at thirteen and forced to give up a child, a half-sister I never knew. That book changed my life. Since then I have been in pursuit of lost or forgotten stories--and the pleasure of disappearing into other worlds through writing.

Review

The Bohemians tells the story of the Monkey Block, a haven for artists, writers and other aspiring people. A place to live that they can be themselves without dealing with the constraints of the time, 1918. The story is about Dorothea Lange, her Chinese assistant, Caroline, Maynard Dixon, and other artists of the time.

The story details the Spanish Flu, and WWI. Dorothea and Caroline open up a successful portrait studio. Dorothea was famous for her many portraits, mainly Migrant Mother, she covers the whole of the Depression, letting the rest of the world know about this grueling time in America. The book though takes place before Dorothea became an 'icon'. It tells of her many friendships at the Monkey Block including cameos by Mabel Dodge Luhan who was a wealthy American patron of the arts, associated with the Taos art colony.  Frido Kahlo, a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts  and Ansel Adams, was an American landscape photographer  known for his black-and-white images of the American West.

I really enjoyed this book as I had heard of these people but did not know a lot about them. The time during the Depression was an era that I did not know a lot about, although my grandparents lived through it in the Midwest. The writing style, in-depth research just literally pulled me in. If you are interested in this type of novel go get this book and immerse yourself in the story! I gave it 5 stars for the story, but mostly letting the reader learn about a time in the past that we have no idea how hard it really does and for people like Dorothea Lange bringing into focus. Sadly the Monkey Block no longer exists, replaced with a pyramid shaped skyscraper in San Francisco, but in The Bohemians, the stories continue.

I received a copy of the book for review purposes only.