Set in San Francisco during the Great Depression, The View from Half Dome is the story of sixteen-year-old Isabel Dickinson. After her longshoreman father dies on the docks, she and her family (her mother, a teenaged brother James, and a nine-year-old sister) move to the squalid Tenderloin District. Her brother joins the Civilian Conservation Corps and works at Yosemite National Park. They barely get by, even with him contributing most of his salary.
A tragic accident occurs, and Isabel runs away from home to join her brother in Yosemite. There she’s befriended by Enid Michael, the first—only female—ranger-naturalist on staff. They form a deep bond, sharing their love of nature and the poems of Emily Dickinson. From Enid, Isabel learns that women can be independent.
The View from Half Dome, a great coming-of-age story, is historical fiction at its best. Author Jill Caughterty deftly interweaves fiction and reality. Enid Michael was, in fact, the first female ranger-naturalist. The photographer Ansel Adams and his wife are also real people. I was fortunate, in my prior life as a photographer, to take a class from him before his death at eighty-two in 1984, so I really appreciated his presence in the book. As a lifelong “birder” and conservationist, I also enjoyed the descriptions of birds, plants, trees, and the mountains themselves.
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The View from Half Dome (Black Rose Writing, April 20, 2023) is available through:
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