⇒ Download Gratis Mary Coin Marisa Silver 9780399160707 Books

Mary Coin Marisa Silver 9780399160707 Books

Download As PDF : Mary Coin Marisa Silver 9780399160707 Books

Mary Coin Marisa Silver 9780399160707 Books

Try to imagine what Florence Owens Thompson was thinking in this iconic “Migrant Mother” photograph, a picture that was taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Lange was a government employee, on assignment to show the plight of poor migrant workers during America’s Great Depression, and this image became a national symbol of the extreme hardships these destitute Americans endured. To me, she looks tired and worried, but also strong and resolved. When this picture was taken, Thompson was a widow with seven children, and she worked in the fields to support her family, picking cotton, peas, and oranges. She and her children traveled to wherever there was work, living in tents and scraping by to do no more than exist.

Marisa Silver used this image as inspiration for Mary Coin, a work of historical fiction based on the incredible and difficult life of Florence Thompson and her children.

I enjoyed reading Mary Coin. Silver is an excellent writer and she makes it very easy to imagine what Thompson’s life was like. She presents the story from three perspectives, beginning with Walker Dodge in the present day, whose family has owned an orange grove in California for four generations. When Walker’s father, George dies, Walker must go through the family home and clear out his father’s belongings, furniture, books, and seemingly unimportant, outdated papers. Trained to notice details, Walker begins to piece together a different picture of his family, particularly the lives of his father and grandfather.

Mary’s story begins in Oklahoma when she is a teenager. She is restless and in search of something more than the life she leads in her family’s mud house. Mary reads the newspapers that cover their walls for insulation and feels excluded from a bigger world, “aware that there were words and ideas meant only for people who already knew them.” She’s drawn to Toby Coin, a boy in her village. They marry when she becomes pregnant, marking the beginning of Mary’s life as a mother.

Vera Dare begins her career as a portrait photographer, taking pictures of wealthy society women. She marries and has children, but her marriage is doomed and when the Depression hits, Vera gets a job taking photographs for the government. Her picture of Mary Coin gains national recognition, Mary remains anonymous, and their lives continue independently until years later.
As the years pass and the two women age, each feels compelled to confront and explain the significance of their meeting. And when Walker makes discoveries in his father’s house, we learn about the significance of his family’s link to Mary.

Silver follows Thompson’s story closely, but it’s important to remember that this is a fictional work. It is fun, however, to imagine the personalities of these people and the story of Mary Coin allows you to do just that. Reading Mary Coin makes me want to re-read The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, one of my all-time favorites.

For the record, Dorothea Lange did not receive royalties or any kind of payment (other than her salary) for her photograph of Florence Thompson. The picture was the property of the U.S. government. Lange did, however, receive a great deal of professional recognition after taking the picture, which helped boost her career. Thompson’s identity remained anonymous until 1978 when a reporter tracked her down and told her story.

I recently found additional information about Thompson and her children, including two great interviews of her daughter, Katherine. It’s a fascinating story and I think the interest begins with that very photograph and the serious, but not-totally-readable look on Thompson’s face.

Great 2008 interview with Katherine McIntosh, one of the children in the photo (girl to the left):
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/02/dustbowl.photo/

Another interview with Katherine McIntosh 2009:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Daughter-of-Migrant-Mother-proud-of-story-3221049.php#photo-2363732

Great article from the Tampa Bay Times: http://www.tampabay.com/features/visualarts/depressions-migrant-mother-remains-a-powerful-image/493338


Tags : Mary Coin [Marisa Silver] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>*An NPR Best Book of 2013</b>* <b>*A BBC Best Book of 2013* </b>   In her first novel since The God of War,Marisa Silver,Mary Coin,Blue Rider Press,0399160701,Historical - General,Depressions;1929;Fiction.,Women migrant labor;Fiction.,Women photographers;Fiction.,1929,AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION,California,Depressions,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Fiction-Historical,GENERAL,General Adult,Literary,United States,Women migrant labor,Women photographers

Mary Coin Marisa Silver 9780399160707 Books Reviews

he book Mary Coin was a difficult one to read, not because the words or plot was complicated, but because the reality of the historical fiction story was devastating. I saw a review of the book in the newspaper, and what interested me was how the author choose to create a story based on a photograph taken during the great depression of a migrant worker and her children. I had used the picture many times when teaching 5th graders about the depression, never stopping to really think about the woman and her children. I never really wondered what happened to them. Marisa Silver creates imagery with her prose unlike many of today's authors. She has developed a realistic story of what could have happened to the woman in the famous picture. Although much of the story is made up, the wisdom of the words is breathtaking. Silvers writes "People always talked about the body betraying a person in illness, but Mary did not believe the body had intentions. It was just a thing that worked until it broke down." Marisa Silver has done a remarkable job with this very well written piece of literature. Much like Frank McCourt did with Angela's Ashes, the author tells a story about a time when we can't even imagine the hardships people were facing.
A very familiar face stared out at me from the stack of trade paperbacks at the small independent bookstore in New Hampshire but I had not seen it cropped so tightly or in color for that matter. It was "Migrant Mother" a picture taken by Dorthea Lange of Florence Owens Thompson as part of the WPA project during the Depression and which really captured the terrible reality faced by the Okies displaced from their land to the California fruit orchards. If you are a fan of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" this is a picture that will often come to mind. At any rate, as a serious photographer I was interested to read that this book is a fictionalization of the lives of the subject and photographer and how they intertwine with an interesting link to today. One of the best descriptions I have encountered on how a photographer "sees" and thinks and the artistic process. Cover said it was a "NY Times Bestseller" and it has not been out that long. Given my interest in the story and the photo, I don't know how they snuck that one by me! A great read!
Try to imagine what Florence Owens Thompson was thinking in this iconic “Migrant Mother” photograph, a picture that was taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange. Lange was a government employee, on assignment to show the plight of poor migrant workers during America’s Great Depression, and this image became a national symbol of the extreme hardships these destitute Americans endured. To me, she looks tired and worried, but also strong and resolved. When this picture was taken, Thompson was a widow with seven children, and she worked in the fields to support her family, picking cotton, peas, and oranges. She and her children traveled to wherever there was work, living in tents and scraping by to do no more than exist.

Marisa Silver used this image as inspiration for Mary Coin, a work of historical fiction based on the incredible and difficult life of Florence Thompson and her children.

I enjoyed reading Mary Coin. Silver is an excellent writer and she makes it very easy to imagine what Thompson’s life was like. She presents the story from three perspectives, beginning with Walker Dodge in the present day, whose family has owned an orange grove in California for four generations. When Walker’s father, George dies, Walker must go through the family home and clear out his father’s belongings, furniture, books, and seemingly unimportant, outdated papers. Trained to notice details, Walker begins to piece together a different picture of his family, particularly the lives of his father and grandfather.

Mary’s story begins in Oklahoma when she is a teenager. She is restless and in search of something more than the life she leads in her family’s mud house. Mary reads the newspapers that cover their walls for insulation and feels excluded from a bigger world, “aware that there were words and ideas meant only for people who already knew them.” She’s drawn to Toby Coin, a boy in her village. They marry when she becomes pregnant, marking the beginning of Mary’s life as a mother.

Vera Dare begins her career as a portrait photographer, taking pictures of wealthy society women. She marries and has children, but her marriage is doomed and when the Depression hits, Vera gets a job taking photographs for the government. Her picture of Mary Coin gains national recognition, Mary remains anonymous, and their lives continue independently until years later.
As the years pass and the two women age, each feels compelled to confront and explain the significance of their meeting. And when Walker makes discoveries in his father’s house, we learn about the significance of his family’s link to Mary.

Silver follows Thompson’s story closely, but it’s important to remember that this is a fictional work. It is fun, however, to imagine the personalities of these people and the story of Mary Coin allows you to do just that. Reading Mary Coin makes me want to re-read The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, one of my all-time favorites.

For the record, Dorothea Lange did not receive royalties or any kind of payment (other than her salary) for her photograph of Florence Thompson. The picture was the property of the U.S. government. Lange did, however, receive a great deal of professional recognition after taking the picture, which helped boost her career. Thompson’s identity remained anonymous until 1978 when a reporter tracked her down and told her story.

I recently found additional information about Thompson and her children, including two great interviews of her daughter, Katherine. It’s a fascinating story and I think the interest begins with that very photograph and the serious, but not-totally-readable look on Thompson’s face.

Great 2008 interview with Katherine McIntosh, one of the children in the photo (girl to the left)
http//www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/02/dustbowl.photo/

Another interview with Katherine McIntosh 2009
http//www.sfgate.com/news/article/Daughter-of-Migrant-Mother-proud-of-story-3221049.php#photo-2363732

Great article from the Tampa Bay Times http//www.tampabay.com/features/visualarts/depressions-migrant-mother-remains-a-powerful-image/493338