The Shadow Catcher is our 2009 Title

The Shadow Catcher, by Marianne Wiggins is the 2009 Santa Monica Citywide Reads featured title.

In The Shadow Catcher, Marianne Wiggins intricately weaves two stories of family history, personal loss, and landscape. One narrative follows a fictional Marianne Wiggins who has written a book on Edward Curtis and is called to the death bed of her father, a man she knows died when she was a child. The other narrative follows Edward Curtis and his family, who traveled across North America to photograph Native peoples through his imagination and lens at the turn of the twentieth century. Photographs from the Curtis archives and the Wiggins family album add to this reflection of myths and truths.

When the Citywide Reads Advisory Committee met, we unanimously selected this novel. We loved it that it combined a historical fiction narrative with contemporary social commentary on Los Angeles. We look forward to some wonderful book discussions and we are already planning programs exploring Edward Curtis, Native American culture, and photography as well as hosting local author Marianne Wiggins.