Vanja Milekovic

“War, Women, and Women and the News”

Catherine Gourley

Nonfiction

     

       It’s the 1920’s, and things are beginning to go sour in America. People are beginning to lose money, and one day, in the beginning of 1930, it all went down. Black Tuesday hit, and the Great Depression had begun. This book begins in the late 20’s explaining how the “Golden Age” of America(1920’s) had transitioned into the Great Depression, which transitioned into World War Two. But all in the point of view of female journalists and photographers. It talks about how the Journalists lived, and how their experiences were when they went out into the field. This book mostly takes place in the United States of America, but since this book is also during WWII it’s also set in various countries in Europe, Japan, and China. And the main characters are mostly the women focused on during this book. Some examples are, Martha Gellhorn, Dickey Chapelle, Dorothea Lange, Helen Kirkpatrick etc., Who were all determined, stubborn, and are always fighting for their right to report. The style of this book, is Nonfiction, but not in the traditional textbook style, it has pictures and newspaper article clippings, which I find a lot easier to read.

     

      In my opinion this book was well researched and well written, however, for a summer reading book it wasn’t the best choice because it made me feel like I was stuck in school again, because it was a nonfiction. But it was still an interesting book to read because you don’t normally hear stories about WWII from the perspective this book is written in. I also enjoyed the various themes that this book contained, such as sexism, war, sacrifice and feminism. It’s a very unique mix of themes in one book. I enjoyed learning about the different female journalists and how they lived, how they got their jobs and what their experiences were while they were out in the field. I also liked how this book didn’t just abruptly start at WWII, it covered all we needed to know about how America went from hopeful after WWI, into the the darkness of the Great Depression, into the mess of WWII. The women in this story are extremely inspiring and its nice to read about them. All in all I think the book was good, except for the fact that it was Nonfiction and thats not really what I like to read during my summer holidays.

   I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys, World War Two stories, Feminism, and anyone who is interested in Journalism/Photojournalism.