****Learning to See -Dorthea Lange, by Elise Hooper

LibraryThing.com Early Review

This work of historical fiction is not so much about Dorothea Lange's work as an artist -her aesthetic-  but her life as a woman raising children while being the primary bread winner before and during the Depression, and the difficulties that continued throughout her life as a photographer, wife and mother.  It illustrates how challenging it was for women to work and raise children during the earlier part of the 19th century and the obstacles they faced. Despite a woman's position or pay the primary childrearing responsibilities was left to the female.  While not a new concept it continues to be a relevant issue, especially in today's social and political climate.   As one reads this book one is reminded that, while a great deal has improved, there is still much to be done regarding the rights and expectations of women, both culturally and economically.  A well-thought-out novel.

Books Read July 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018

  ****The Woman Next Door, by Yewande Omotoso, 2017,  African Literatures 

*****The Late George Apley , by John P. Marquand, 1937,  American Literature

*****Frankenstein in Baghdad, by Ahmed Saadawi, 2018, Arabic Literature 

*****Half a Lifelong Romance, by Eileen Chang, 1951, Chinese Literature

****Pamela, by Samuel Richardson, 1740, English Literature

***My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh, 2018, American Fiction 

 ***** Jesus's Son, by Denis Johnson, 1992, American Literature 

***Unsheltered,  by Barbara Kingsolver, 2018, American Literature

*****Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson, 2011, American Literature 

****The Mars Room, by Rachel Kushner, 2018, American Literature 

****Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez,  1985, Columbian Literature 

***The Column of Fire by Ken Follett, 2017, Historical Fiction 

***The Letter, by Kathryn Hughes, 2016, English Fiction

****Anything is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout, 2017, American Literature 

****Praise Song for the Butterflies,  by Bernice L. McFadden, 2018, African American Literature

***Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore, 2006, Biography 

***Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate, 2017, American Historical Fiction

****The Elusive Moth, by Ingrid Winterbach, 2014, Afrikaans 
Literature 

****Pretend I'm Dead, A Novel, by Jen Beagin, 2018, American Literature

****West, A  Novel by Carys Davies, 2018, Literature 

***Being Mortal, Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande, 2014, American Nonfiction 

****Stay With Me, by Ayobami Adebayo, 2017, Nigerian Literature 

***** Three Floors Up, by Eshkol Nevo, 2017, Israeli Literature

***Orphan Train Rider, A Boy's True Story, by Andrea Warren, 1998, American History

****Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love by Zack McDermott, 2017, Memoir

*****Swann's Way, I Search of Lost Time, Vol. 1, Marcel Proust, 1913, French Literature

****Educated, A Memoir, by Tara Westover, 2018, American Memoir

****Warlight, by Michael Ondaatje, 2018, Canadian Literature