📷 🖼️ ❤️ “Finding Us” (Pictures of the Heart #2) (2023) ❤️ 🖼️ 📷 – Book Review
MY REVIEW
Series: Pictures of the Heart (Book #2)
Paperback: 304 Pages
Publisher: Bethany House (July 25, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0764237411
ISBN-13: 978-0764237416
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“One candid photograph will change the lives of four people forever.
While taking photographs at an exposition in Seattle in 1909, Camera Girl Eleanor Bennett snaps an image of a woman in widow's clothes with deep sorrow etched in her expression and a young infant in her arms.
Eleanor longs to study botany at the University of Washington and soon becomes fast friends with botanist Bill Reed, but she can't stop thinking about the widow in the photograph. She is stunned to learn Bill recognizes the woman as the sister-in-law he believed lost in a shipwreck.
As Eleanor and Bill hunt for Amelia Reed to reunite her with her grief-stricken husband, they must stand together to face the danger that follows and learn to trust that God will direct their paths.”
Thank you in advance to the publisher, Bethany House (a division of Baker Books) for providing a complimentary review copy through Interviews & Reviews. A positive review was not required, and all words are my own.
Up until a few years ago, Historical Fiction was NOT a genre I read much – if at all. Today, it is one I do enjoy. But, as with any book, I have to be drawn to it.
After reading Peterson’s first book in the series, Remember Me, I KNEW I had to read the remaining books in the series. As this is a continuation, readers will get the maximum benefit of reading the first book prior to this one. The main characters are not only established in that book, but one of the events referred to in this book was the major storyline in the first book.
Some of the characters from the first book reappear, even briefly:
📷 Addie
🏫 Isaac
🎞️ Pearl (co-owner of Fisher Photography and Otis’ wife)
🎞️ Otis (co-owner of Fisher Photography)
📷 Bertha (camera girl)
📷 Mary (camera girl)
📷 Eleanor (camera girl)
📷 May (camera girl, paints portraits)
There is a brief mention of Esther from the first book. I’d hoped not to see her again. I’m not sure why it was necessary to include her given what happened in the first book. I also didn’t think she’d STILL have her job given her association with Addie’s brothers.
As of note, the mention did nothing to continue the storyline from the first book or advance this one, it was more or less an “in passing” mention.
Peterson introduces:
🏫 Wallace Reed (botanist)
🍁 William “Bill” Reed (preacher)
👒 Amelia Reed (Wallace’s pregnant wife)
💰 Grady Masterson
👒 Rosemary (Eleanor’s roommate)
The story is also told from four (4) POVs – Eleanor, William, Grady, and Amelia.
The Reeds are traveling aboard a ship to Seattle from Alaska, as is Masterson. It is clear that Masterson doesn’t like the Reeds. However, tragedy strikes during a storm, causing the ship to wreck. It is that tragedy that is the catalyst for a sordid story of a missing woman (Amelia) and a dastardly revenge plot.
The tragedy also affects Wallace, a preacher, who of course turns away from God after losing his wife. Despite the tragedy, Bill is eager to return to Alaska, his brother isn’t.
As the expo is still going (it ran from June 1st to October 16th in 1909), the camera girls from Fisher Photography are still working. Addie is still recovering from the attack she went through in the first book. However, she is in a positive mood and happily married to Isaac.
Two months after the tragedy, at the expo, Eleanor runs into Bill who saves her from falling into a bank of water. The two instantly connect.
In a miraculous turn of events, Bill’s manuscript – presumed lost due to the tragedy – is recovered, but ruined. He is only given a month to put it back together. While he can draw, the typing is a time-consuming task.
Eleanor offers to help Bill restore the manuscript. Bill offers to not only pay Eleanor, but also includes dinners. Bill sees God at work – what was once lost is now found and tries to encourage Wallace who has lost his sense of purpose. The manuscript is only the beginning though.
While doing her job at the expo, Eleanor is fascinated by a widow and her baby, and takes a photo of the two. Eleanor keeps a print for herself, which is displayed in the window of the store. Bill finds it on a visit and recognizes who the woman really is – his presumed lost sister-in-law. Eleanor then helps him in trying to find the woman which isn’t easy.
Eleanor also has her own plans to follow Bill back to Alaska, and he is also thinking she is the woman God has sent for him.
When it comes to locating the woman; Bill, Wallace, and Eleanor are stopped by everyone. All they can hope is to find her when they leave Seattle. However, someone else has a different plan.
This fast-paced and exciting read drew me right in and kept my attention until the very end. The short chapters also helped keep my interest and keep me reading. Peterson keeps the tension going to almost the end with all the near-misses, and the diabolic actions of a deranged man.
Despite all that – this is one of those reads that I had to “round-up” on the star rating. It’s better than a 3-star book, but definitely not a 4-star read. It rated more or less a 3½ star read, and is largely due to the bad guy being established right off along with his “plan” for revenge. There leaves little mystery as to who it is, what his plan is, and why he’s doing it.
The only entertaining part is watching his madness escalate during the progression of the story. It is somewhat disturbing and enthralling all at once.
Also, everything is too perfect between Eleanor and Bill – literally NOTHING to disturb their relationship. Not that one wants problems, but they are part of life. Only Rosemary and Eleanor’s parents seem to object. But, those issues are quickly smoothed over.
Once Wallace finds out Amelia is alive – it’s an immediate conversion, a complete 180° in his attitude. He goes from abject grief back to his previous faithful self.
Another thing I took an issue with – Bill’s handling of his brother’s grief. Despite it being just TWO (2) months since the shipwreck, and believing his wife and unborn child lost, Wallace isn’t given the space to grieve by his brother. While the grieving process wasn’t that respected back in those times, I still found Bill’s attitude a bit callous, or at best insensitive.
I did have a wonderful “foodie” moment. That was when Rosemary treated Eleanor to a “Kansas Dinner” – ham, baked beans, and cornbread. I absolutely LOVE baked beans and cornbread and had a craving for it after reading it.
Fans of the author, especially those who’ve read the first book, won’t want to miss this. As this is distributed by a primarily Christian publisher, and one of the characters is a preacher, there will be strong elements of faith represented.
Despite the slight disappointment of this book, I’m still excited to read the third book, Knowing You, when it comes out in November. That will be May’s story.
RATING:
4 (3 ½) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 (3 ½) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 (3 ½) ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html; update: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html)
Previous Book in the Series:
Series: Pictures of the Heart (Book #1)
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (March 7, 2023)
Language: English
ISBN: 0764237381
ISBN-13: 978-0764237386
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“From the Yukon to Seattle, the hope of a new beginning waits just around the corner.
Addie Bryant is haunted by her past of heartbreak and betrayal. After her beau, Isaac Hanson, left the Yukon, she made a vow to wait for him. When she's sold to a brothel owner after the death of her father, Addie manages to escape with the hope that she can forever hide her past and the belief that she will never have the future she's always dreamed of.
Years later, Addie has found peace in her new life as a photographer, training Camera Girls to operate and sell the Brownie camera. During the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Expo in Seattle, Addie is reunited with Isaac, but after the path her life has taken, she's afraid to expose the ugliness of her former life and to move toward the future they had pledged to each other.
When her past catches up with her, Addie must decide whether to run or to stay and face her wounds in order to embrace her life, her future, and her hope in God.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of over one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary. She is often referred to as the “Queen of Historical Christian Fiction”, and her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling HEIRS OF MONTANA and ALASKAN QUEST series. Tracie considers her writing a ministry for God to share the Gospel and biblical application. She and her family make their home in Montana. Visit her website at www.traciepeterson.com.
You can also find her on the following social media accounts:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TraciePetersonAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TraciePeterson/
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