Portraits of the Heart

by Jane Kirkpatrick 2 books in this series

Portraits of the Heart is inspired by Jessie Ann Gaebele, Jane Kirkpatrick’s grandmother, who entered commercial photography as a teenager in early-twentieth-century Minnesota. The two novels follow Jessie from apprenticeship through itinerant studio work as she develops technical skill, business confidence and an artistic identity in a profession dominated by men.

Photography’s light and chemicals become a moral vocabulary for temptation, concealment and truth. Jessie’s attraction to her married employer threatens both households, and the Christian arc of the series depends on accountability and grace rather than easy absolution.

Reading order

Books in this series (2 books)

1. A Flickering Light

Jane Kirkpatrick

Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele enters F. J. Bauer’s Winona photography studio in 1907 and discovers that her artistic eye is matched by a talent for the hazardous business of darkrooms, explosive flash powder and commercial portraiture. The profession offers a future beyond conventional work for women,…

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2. An Absence so Great

Jane Kirkpatrick

3.8(594)

At eighteen Jessie Gaebele leaves Minnesota for Milwaukee and other Midwestern towns, taking charge of studios whose owners have been disabled by mercury poisoning. Professional success brings her closer to the independent business she wants, yet distance cannot erase her forbidden attachment to F. J. Bauer…

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