The Woman in the Photo - by Mary Hogan (Paperback)

About the Book

On her eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker's closed adoption is unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a genetic relative, a nineteenth-century woman with hair and eyes like hers, standing in a pile of rubble from an ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history.

Book Synopsis

In this compulsively-readable historical novel, from the author of the critically-acclaimed Two Sisters, comes the story of two young women--one in America's Gilded Age, one in scrappy modern-day California--whose lives are linked by a single tragic afternoon in history.

1888: Elizabeth Haberlin, of the Pittsburgh Haberlins, spends every summer with her family on a beautiful lake in an exclusive club. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains above the working class community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the private retreat is patronized by society's elite. Elizabeth summers with Carnegies, Mellons, and Fricks, following the rigid etiquette of her class. But Elizabeth is blessed (cursed) with a mind of her own. Case in point: her friendship with Eugene Eggar, a Johnstown steel mill worker. And when Elizabeth discovers that the club's poorly maintained dam is about to burst and send 20 million tons of water careening down the mountain, she risks all to warn Eugene and the townspeople in the lake's deadly shadow.

Present day: On her eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker's closed adoption is unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a genetic relative--a 19th Century woman with hair and eyes likes hers--standing in a pile of rubble from an ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history. Her journey takes her from California to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from her present financial woes to her past of privilege, from the daily grind to an epic disaster. Once Lee's heroic DNA is revealed, will she decide to forge a new fate?

From the Back Cover

The lives of two young women--bound by heritage and history--are changed forever by one epic event . . .

1889: Elizabeth Haberlin, of the Pittsburgh Haberlins, spends every summer with her family on a beautiful lake in an exclusive club. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains above the working-class community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the private retreat is patronized by society's elite. Elizabeth summers with Carnegies, Mellons, and Fricks, following the rigid etiquette of her class. But Elizabeth is blessed (or cursed) with a mind of her own. Case in point: her friendship with Eugene Eggar, a Johnstown steel mill worker. And when Elizabeth discovers that the club's poorly maintained dam is about to burst and send 20 million tons of water careening down the mountain, she risks all to warn Eugene and the townspeople in the lake's deadly shadow.

Present day: On her eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker's closed adoption is unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a biological relative--a nineteenth-century woman with hair and eyes likes hers--standing in a pile of rubble from an ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history. Her journey takes her from her hometown in California to Johnstown, from her present financial woes to her past of privilege, from the daily grind to an epic disaster. But once Lee's heroic DNA is revealed, will she decide to forge a new fate?

Review Quotes

"a sweeping story [...] Generations of family history tie these two young women together, and this is the story of how Lee searches out her genetic family and how that family came to be." - Booklist
"a wonderful story of two young women coming into their own. [...] a beautiful work of historical fiction [...] Hogan does a brilliant job at weaving their two stories together to make one fabulous novel about growing up and discovering who you are in more ways than one." - NY Daily News
"Exquisitely written, heartbreakingly honest, TWO SISTERS is the kind of story that will keep you turning pages into the night. A joy to read." - Jill Smolinski, author of Objects of My Affection
"[A] fraught, fascinating family drama." - Booklist
Praise for Two Sisters: "A must read for everyone who is a sister, never had a sister and wished for one, or simply longs for a page turning novel that holds you in its tender, often hilarious and poignant grip from page one. [...] Loaded with emotion, laughter, surprise and ultimately the message of the fragility of life, Two Sisters will burn through the sisterhood of book clubs like a fever. And it should! Brava Mary Hogan!" - Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Shoemaker's Wife
"Mary Hogan expertly uses the tragic story of the Johnstown Food as background for a fascinating tale of two women, generations apart, who defy expectations to find their own paths to happiness and purpose. Awash in historical detail, this book is a real page-turner." - Melanie Benjamin, New York Times Best Selling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator's Wife
"A fascinating snapshot of two women separated by time--each compelling in her own right - who together make for a novel so appealing you can't stop reading. Well-researched history and modern intrigue, original and heartfelt.... a thoroughly captivating novel" - New York Times Bestselling author MJ Rose
"Readers will dig the dramatic twists and sibling rivarly at the heart of Mary Hogan's Two Sisters." - Fitness magazine
"A mesmerizing journey into the secrets that can split apart brothers and sisters, children and their parents. It's the perfect read for anyone who knows the way families can hold you up while breaking your heart." - Lauren Grodstein
"Gripping and thought provoking, Two Sisters digs deep into emotions getting to the heart of family dynamics." - New York Journal of Books