Learning to See: A Novel of Dorothea Lange, the Woman Who Revealed the Real America (Advance Read Copy) Signed! [B1559]

2019 signed PB 'Uncorrected Manuscript for Exclusive Early Review' copy, with cover wear. If you liked Sold on a Monday and Beautiful Exiles, you'll love this novel about strong-willed trailblazing photographer, Dorothea Lange, whose fame grew during the Great Depression and World War II. "Hooper excels at humanizing giants....seamlessly weaving together the time, places and people in Lange's life...For photo buffs and others familiar with her vast body of work, reading the book will be like discovering the secret backstory of someone they thought they knew." -The Washington Post.

In 1918, a fearless twenty-two-year old arrives in bohemian San Francisco from the Northeast, determined to make her own way as an independent woman. Renaming herself Dorothea Lange she is soon the celebrated owner of the city's most prestigious and stylish portrait studio and wife of the talented but volatile painter, Maynard Dixon. By the early 1930s, as America's economy collapses, her marriage flounders and Dorothea must find ways to support her two young sons single-handedly. Determined to expose the horrific conditions of the nation's poor, she takes to the road with her camera, creating images that inspire, reform, and define the era. And when the United States enters World War II, Dorothea chooses to confront another injustice-the incarceration of thousands of innocent Japanese Americans. At a time when women were supposed to keep the home fires burning, Dorothea Lange, creator of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century, dares to be different. But her choices came at a steep price . .

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Other than her famous Depression Era photos I knew nothing about Dorothea Lange. This historical fiction is a fascinating read about a complicated woman. She was driven by her love of photography and by her need to document the people of her time. I did not realize she had attempted to reveal the terrible conditions in the Japanese Internment Camp at Manzanar. Her dedication to her work made her family life difficult and her own health suffered because of it. I would very much encourage people to read this book"; "One of my favorite books and favorite genres: inspiring woman, who changed the world and ruffled feathers along the way. I plan a visit to MOMA to see her photography and will see them through a new lens knowing the background with which the pictures were taken. The quality of the narrative was excellent; Dorothea's life story was told with the right amount of detail to hold my interest but not too much to drag on."; "Gets better as you go. The romance leading up to her 1st marriage reads like a YA novel. But Lange is such a compelling historical figure, I willed myself to continue and was rewarded for it. Hooper effectively describes a complex woman in a remarkable time in US history."