The Woman in the Photo: A Novel

This dual time novel tells the story of two young women, separated by over a century in time.Elizabeth Haberlin and her family spend time in the summer at the private club in the Allegheny Mountains above Johnstown, Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. The club is on a created lake which literally rises above the town below. While Elizabeth is headed towards coming out into society and finding a suitable husband, her eyes are opened to the lives of the working class and when tragedy threatens to overtake the town, she rushes to warn them of the impending disaster and is drawn into the recovery effort. In the present day, Lee Parker has been told that information from her adoption file is being released on her 18th birthday relating to health information. Lee and her adoptive mom have fallen on tough times- her dad has left after poor investments devastated their finances and Lee’s college fund. They are living in the pool house of a woman trying to keep up appearances, with her mother acting as a servant/maid. Lee finds out that she has Jewish ancestry and there is a mysterious picture in the file of an unnamed woman with Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross. As Lee begins to dig into her past, she also finds an opportunity for friendship and possibly love, but worries that her real circumstances may scare him away. The author does a great job of bringing the historical tragedy of Johnstown to life and show the lives of two young women as their lives change and evolve.

Some may have picked this book for the fascinating historical account brought on by the devastation of the Jonestown flood. The era was May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic collapse of the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemmaugh River. A miraculous misfortune of this misconstruction leads to the disastrous devastation in the valley. The author was so moved by the facts of this tragedy she went to do research and wrote a book on the impact . Normally I am not into historical fiction, but this particular book's subject matter caught my eye.The complex requirements of women's dress attire in the 1800's and the necessity to be proper in high society were the main focus for women of the day. The limitations and restraints put on women due to the garments they wore became fascinating to read and valuable in the end.This alternating era brings rushing emotions as an adopted girl turns eighteen and begins searching for her birth family. During events, she comes across a lady in a picture with Clara Barton (of the Red Cross) who helped the people in the Jonestown flood.A bit confusing in the beginning, the correlation between the past and present era.Then when the characters revealed how the history was passed down through generations.The climax towards the ending was nice it all made sense, I would have liked it to sneak in a bit sooner. The interest for me was being an adoptee myself, seeing how the author revealed the information in the plot.I gave the story 4 stars. Great read, with the fantastic real base story with a turn of tragic events, which lead to an uprise in positive results and leverage for a community to rise again. The story could have popped a bit sooner, but overall it was solid wit great characters, and great story.The prize for me, as some reviewers stated I never was taught nor heard about this tragic event. So, I do appreciate the author writing this great story. I honor all the people who lost loved ones, and participated in assisting all the people involved in this tragic event. Bless you.

I just finished reading this and really enjoyed it. If you are interested in seeing the events leading up to a known event (such as the sinking of the Titanic) so you will probably enjoy this story. The story is two-fold, following a young woman in the present time wanting to find out about her birth mother and a soon-to-be debutante in 1888/89 whose family summers at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club where there is a lake created by a huge earthen dam. Spoiler: the dam bursts and destroys Johnstown, PA and the two women in the story are related. However, these were foregone conclusions from the outset. The journey is what the story is about and as it approaches the inevitable (the flood) it becomes more gripping. I plan to share this book with my child in a couple of years because it provides so many opportunities for discussion: differences between social classes, gender expectations, is biology destiny, who should be held accountable for man-made disasters, and more. The author also introduces Clara Barton (because she was there after the flood) and tells a bit about her life and how difficult it was for a woman to break into a man's world. If you want to share with a tween or teen there are no swear words, no sexual content (just one kiss) and nothing graphic, though she does describe the torrent of water and debris (and people) roaring through the valley which is disturbing when you think about the people dying that way.

Growing up 2 hrs north of Johnstown, I had heard of the disaster, but really didn't learn about it. This book opened up a whole new yearning for me to learn about what caused the disaster. I enjoyed the "human" aspect of the story, rather than facts & figures. I raved so much about this book, that I got 4 of my friends to read it & they loved it. I've driven down to South Fork twice now to view the area that was once the lake, and visit the National Park Museum~~where the caretaker's house has been refurbished. The clubhouse & several of the "cottages" are still standing, some in dire need of repair. Anyhow, this book really drew me in & made me want to learn more about my area of PA.

Hogan creates two streams in her story, one past and one present. These two streams travel in parallel until they converge and blend into the strong river which is Lee. The writing is superb...a joy to read. Hogan emphasizes her beautiful prose with appropriate photos at the beginning of the chapters dealing with the "past" stream. There is a significant amount of history incorporated in the story, not enough to intrude on the story she is building. I highly recommend this novel.