Book Blurb:
Warning: Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll!
Fearless young photographer Maddy Garfield shoots love-ins and police riots in the turbulent 1960s, and deals with bikers, rock stars, arrogant diplomats, egotistical actors, and enigmatic Rastas in the '70s. But every time she encounters charismatic-but-elusive director Jake Morgenstern, who gave her a mind-blowing first kiss, her desire grows, fueling her unfulfilled fantasies. When she finally works on a Western Jake's directing in Colorado, will she finally be reunited with her first love?
Lenswoman in Love provides an insider's view of the most colorful and creative decades of the twentieth century. It will resonate deeply with those who experienced those vibrant times - and anyone who wishes they had.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/9Bazg
Author Bio:
Kim Gottlieb-Walker is an American photographer and writer living and working in Los Angeles, CA. Over the past 50 years, she has built a distinctive portfolio that includes some of the most notable musicians and personalities of the '60s and '70s.
A graduate of UCLA with honors in Motion Picture Production, Kim worked as a teaching assistant in the film department and began photographing at concerts while her professor, Bill Kerby, conducted interviews. This led to her classic portrait of Jimi Hendrix during Kerby's 1967 interview with him, a photo Kim took when she was only twenty years old. At UCLA she also photographer such notables as Dr Spock and the first black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm.
Kim worked as a photographer in the LA underground scene of the early '70s, accompanying journalists on assignments and often shooting at the Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge where she photographed Andy Warhol and author Howard Fast, among many others.
She moved to London for a year, shooting Pink Floyd in the recording studio and Rod Stewart and Joni Mitchell on stage during the 1970 Isle of Wight music festival. She then returned to Los Angeles and working for Music World Magazine, photographed hundreds of recording artists including Gram Parsons before his untimely death in 1973.
Kim's ability to photograph candidly in natural light has produced some of her most iconic photographs in “Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae,” her first book which documents many never-before-seen photographs of reggae legends including Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Lee "Scratch" Perry and Peter Tosh with commentary from Cameron Crowe, Roger Steffens and former Island Records head of Publicity, Jeff Walker.
She went on to shoot film stills for John Carpenter's Halloween, The Fog, Christine and Escape from New York. Her most recent coffeetable photo book “On Set with John Carpenter” (Titan Books/Random House USA) is available at any book or genre store or through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. She also worked at Paramount as unit photographer for Cheers for nine years and Family Ties for five, as well as the pilots for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation, and the last Bob Newhart show "Bob."
In 1980, Kim was one of the first women admitted to the International Cinematographers Guild, IATSE Local 600 and served as an elected representative for still photographers on their National Executive Board for over three decades.
Kim Gottlieb Walker's work has been exhibited in solo shows at the Jamaican Consulate in New York, Proud Gallery in Camden, London, Sugarmynt Gallery in S. Pasadena and Mr. Musichead, Morrison Hotel Gallery, and KM Fine Arts in West Hollywood. She has been published in MOJO, Rolling Stone, Time, People, The Free Press, LA Weekly, Time Out, Feature Magazine, Music World and Crawdaddy. Her photos have appeared in several books including "Classic Hendrix" published by Genesis Press. Kim's High Times cover photo of Bob Marley remains the magazine's most popular cover to date.
A sampling of her work can be seen at www.Lenswoman.com
Recently, she has written two (as yet unpublished) novels: “Lenswoman - A Romance of the 1960s and ’70s” and “Caterina By Moonlight,” a novel about a girl growing up in renaissance Florence.
Editorial Review:
“I swiveled around and ran to my class.
After a little sleuthing, I turned up some information about the woman named Christine Blake. A part time student and part-time model, she was also the daughter of a British financier, one of the richest men in England.
No way I could compete with that.
A few weeks later I quite literally bumped into Jake, and my stack of books went flying. We both knelt to gather them before he glanced at me with the luminous eyes I remembered so vividly.
“Garfield?” He looked genuinely pleased to see me. “I didn’t know you were here.”
His surprised expression held something more that I couldn’t define. All I could think about was being in his arms again, his lips on mine. The intervening three years dissolved. My cheeks burned, a battalion of butterflies took flight in my belly, and I momentarily lost the ability to speak.
I somehow managed to stutter, “Uh… yeah. I’m going to film school here.””
Madeleine (Maddy) Garfield and Jake Morganstern are living life. It is the ‘60s, and it’s California. When they meet, there is attraction, but also complications. It is the ‘60s, after all. Life is good, if somewhat turbulent and confusing. There’s mention of Pete Seegar, and The Doors, and a certain Jim Morrison. The reader, just like this reviewer, will be firmly in The Zone, and happily so. “Lenswoman in Love” by Kim Gottlieb-Walker will take the reader back to those times, with authentic, natural dialogue, particularly between Maddy and Jake. It is a relief to read of a connection that sparkles through dialogue and personality rather than insta-love that appears for no particular reason. Readers of a certain age, (possibly including this reviewer!), will also notice social attitudes that many will have relegated firmly to the past. But these are part of history, and certainly help set the scene.
While Maddy and Jake are the main characters, Gottlieb-Walker has also created a set of genuine secondary characters, including Maddy’s mother Blanche, and friends (Darlene, Tony and others) who support Maddy when it seems she is separated from Jake. Avid fans of romance novel tropes may wonder whether the misunderstanding between the couple is somewhat contrived or too easy a fix, but no matter, even when the lovers are apart, there is enough storytelling and subplots to keep the pages turning seemingly of their own volition.
“Since our flights arrived just an hour apart, we connected in the terminal, where my mother hugged me and remarked on how “compact” I looked, even though I felt enormous. We chatted while waiting for our connecting flight to Durango, where Hannah would be meeting us for the drive to the cabin. When we stepped outside the smaller airport building in Durango, we were greeted by a blast of icy air that stung our faces. We loaded our bags into Hannah’s truck and headed out into the starkly beautiful countryside on the way to our valley. Hannah and my mom got along like long-lost sisters from the moment they met, which made my heart sing with joy. Michael greeted us at the cabin with hugs, everyone’s breath making little clouds in the frigid air. They bundled us into the house, where he had built a fire in the massive stone fireplace and stacked piles of wood on the hearth and porch to keep it well supplied.”
The story is told in first person narrative through Maddy’s eyes, and her personality, flaws and all, is completely believable (aside from, perhaps, the trip away from home in the closing pages). “Lenswoman in Love”, as the title indicates, is primarily a romance, but also a social history, touching on the upheaval of the 1960s. It is also a fascinating insight into the hedonistic film/creative industry of that decade.
The author is a lenswoman herself and it shows in the careful authentic detail included in the story. Some of the technical detail included is not relevant to the story but does allow the reader further insight into Maddy’s character.
“The unprovoked violence against the peace marchers shocked and angered me to the core. I’d always assumed that the stories I’d heard about police brutality had been exaggerated, but now I had witnessed it firsthand. A veil of complacency had been lifted from my eyes, and I suddenly felt much older than my eighteen years.
Frantic parents ranged across the lawn, calling desperately for their children. The Bolex heavy in my hands, I searched for my fellow UCLA film students in the dim light among the bruised and hysterical survivors.”
“Lenswoman in Love” by Kim Gottlieb-Walker is a compelling romance, set against the 1960s in California. Maddy and Jake’s path to true love has a few twists and turns, and the author has created well-thought out and authentic characters with natural dialogue. Highlights for the reader include the references to legendary historical figures from the creative set, and the wit and conversations between the characters, which are perfectly judged for the times. The author’s own career and expertise provides a valuable dimension to the narrative and an unmistakable authority to the creative scenes in the novel.
*****
“Lenswoman in Love” by Kim Gottlieb-Walker receives 4 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
To have your historical novel editorially reviewed and/or enter the HFC Book of the Year contest, please visit www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission
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