The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik

What struck me most about San Francisco so far wasn't the newness of the place--that I'd expected--as the absence of the past.~ from The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik

In 1918, Dorothea Lange set out to travel the country when she became stranded in San Francisco. She meets the Bohemians of Monkey Block, artists and photographers and actors who don't fit into mainstream society. It is where Lange belongs, and she settles in with hopes to open her own photography studio.

Her entree into this world is through a beautiful Chinese woman with green eyes; as a Chinese person she is reviled and harassed; as a person of mixed race she has no people--except for the Bohemians. Based on references to Lange's Chinese 'Mission girl' assistant, her affecting story weaves through the novel.

Jasmin Darznik uses the story of Lange's early life and career as the skeleton of her novel, but the city itself is the star: it is a place of great beauty with a history of horror and disaster; a place of hate and corruption and a haven for artists; the home of the nouveau riche and dire poverty. 

When Lange arrives, the city still bore the scars of the devastating earthquake of 1906, but on the ruins a new city has spring up. Including Chinatown, the only place the Chinese are allowed to live, slums run by wealthy and powerful white people.

Darznik writes about the waves of Spanish Influenza, the collapse of Lange's business, and the subsequent anti-Chinese and anti-immigrant fervor that arose in the aftermath.

Readers will follow Lange's love affair and unhappy marriage with the artist Maynard Dixon and her work for the WPA that brought her fame. The final chapter gives closure to all the story threads. 

Readers who enjoy historic fiction with strong female characters and who appreciate historic parallels to contemporary problems will enjoy this novel. 

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

See Lange's most famous photographs here.

The Bohemians: A Novel
by Jasmin Darznik
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Pub Date Aprril 6, 2021 

ISBN: 9780593129425
hardcover $28.00 (USD)

from the publisher

A dazzling novel of one of America’s most celebrated photographers, Dorothea Lange, exploring the wild years in San Francisco that awakened her career-defining grit, compassion, and daring.

“Jasmin Darznik expertly delivers an intriguing glimpse into the woman behind those unforgettable photographs of the Great Depression, and their impact on humanity.”—Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things

In 1918, a young and bright-eyed Dorothea Lange steps off the train in San Francisco, where a disaster kick-starts a new life. Her friendship with Caroline Lee, a vivacious, straight-talking Chinese American with a complicated past, gives Dorothea entrée into Monkey Block, an artists’ colony and the bohemian heart of the city. Dazzled by Caroline and her friends, Dorothea is catapulted into a heady new world of freedom, art, and politics. She also finds herself unexpectedly falling in love with the brilliant but troubled painter Maynard Dixon. Dorothea and Caroline eventually create a flourishing portrait studio, but a devastating betrayal pushes their friendship to the breaking point and alters the course of their lives.

The Bohemians captures a glittering and gritty 1920s San Francisco, with a cast of unforgettable characters, including cameos from such legendary figures as Mabel Dodge Luhan, Frida Kahlo, Ansel Adams, and D. H. Lawrence. A vivid and absorbing portrait of the past, it is also eerily resonant with contemporary themes, as anti-immigration sentiment, corrupt politicians, and a devastating pandemic bring tumult to the city—and the gift of friendship and the possibility of self-invention persist against the ferocious pull of history.

As Dorothea sheds her innocence, her purpose is awakened and she grows into the figure we know from history—the artist whose iconic Depression-era photographs like “Migrant Mother” broke the hearts and opened the eyes of a nation.