An Absence So Great - Review

I recently received An Absence So Great by Jane Kirkpatrick for review. I love Christian romance stories, and this sounded like a great one based on the life of Jessie Gaebele. Here's the summary I received from Waterbrook Multnomah:

Inspired by the engaging stories told through her grandmother’s photographs taken at the turn of the century, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick provides a portrait of the tension between darkness and light in the soul of a young woman pursuing her professional dreams.
Despite growing in confidence as a photographer, eighteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele’s personal life is still at a crossroads. Hoping she’s put an unfortunate romantic longing behind her as “water under the bridge,” she exiles herself to Milwaukee to operate photographic studios for those ill with mercury poisoning.
Jessie gains footing on her dream to one day own her own studio and soon finds herself in other Midwest towns, pursuing her profession. But even a job she loves can’t keep those painful memories from seeping into her heart, and the shadows of a forbidden love threaten to darken the portrait of her life.

After reading this book, however, I was rather disappointed. I'm not sure if it's been my pregnancy fatigue or something else, but I had a really hard time getting into this book. It is the second book in a series, so that could also have been some of my trouble. It would have been nice to read the first one before this one. Even though the main characters claimed to be Christians, besides a few mentions of reading the Bible or attending church, the author didn't bring it out much in their thoughts or actions. I also had a really hard time connecting with Jessie's romance story with a married (and then divorced) man more than twice her age. It turned me off from the story more than drew me in. I do realize it is a story based on the true-life story of Jessie Gaebele, but I still didn't care for the way it all came together in this book.
All that being said, there was one aspect of the story I did enjoy. It was very interesting to see how challenging it was in 1910 for women to enter into the business world. Jessie worked very hard to prove she was a good photographer and could own her own studio, but time and time again, she was told no by bankers, studio owners, etc. The book also includes pictures taken by Jessie which I thought were interesting to see.

Author Bio: Jane Kirkpatrick is an award-winning author of sixteen historical novels, including A Flickering Light, the first part of Jessie Gaebale’s story, and three nonfiction titles. Known for her unique insights into the exploration of community, family and faith of actual historical women, the Wisconsin native and her husband have called their ranch in Oregon home for the past 25 years.

If you are interested in purchasing this book you can do so here: An Absence So Great

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.