Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.
Mary Coin is a fictionalized narrative of a real photograph taken during the Depression by photographer Dorothea Lange. The iconic image titled “Migrant Mother” becomes the novel’s title character, Mary Coin, while photographer Dorothea Lange is rendered as the character Vera Dare. Tying the brief encounter of these two women together across several decades is a third character, Walker Dodge, a social historian who is also researching his family’s past. While much of the narrative parallels the true events surrounding the photograph, Silver enhances and expands this moment in time with fictional details that let the truth behind the image come to life.
Stand-in facilitator Leslie Nord reported the book group members’ responses:
Most did not realize that the book was based upon real people, or that the book was based on a real photo, although some remembered studying the photo in school. We talked a lot about what was true and what wasn’t – that the woman in the photo (Mary Coin) was real and the photographer Vera was real. The third character, Wade Dodge, was not. That part of the story was fabricated. Everyone liked the main character, Mary Coin, and felt she was a very strong and passionate woman. Most were disappointed with the ending because it was not a happy one for Mary. We discussed how in real life she did find happiness with her third husband who had a good job as a bank administrator. The book had a better ending for Vera and they wished the author had done the same for Mary.
They all liked the book and found it a good reminder of how difficult the depression was. This led to different discussions of the time period and similar books such as Grapes of Wrath. One member had relatives from Oklahoma who had similar stories of moving to California to find work and how horrible the conditions were. One member’s daughter uses the photo to teach her middle school students about the time period.
Some felt the book bounced back and forth too much between time periods and felt that was confusing. We all agreed the main theme was the strength of women and American motherhood – that it is a ‘woman’s book.’ We talked about how she would have done anything to provide for her children. We talked about similarities with Sand Castles [The Sand Castle Girls by Chris Bohjalian], but they preferred this story since the Sand Castles story was so tragic. They agreed there was some similarity to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, although most felt Henrietta should have been compensated more so than Mary. We talked a lot about how Mary’s photo was one of hundreds taken by the photographer of migrant workers and settled on the fact that since no one else was compensated there was no reason to single her out.
