Earthquake at Dawn by Kristiana Gregory

This book is a fictionalized account of actual events that took place during the San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906. It’s based on the life of Edith Irvine, a twenty two year old photographer who was in San Francisco on that day.

The account begins when Edith, her father and their maid, the fifteen year old Daisy Valentine, are on their way to San Francisco. Edith’s father has business to attend to in the city and Edith and her maid are in route to a photography exhibit in Europe. However, when they are on the boat in the harbor, an earthquake strikes the city and they watch the San Francisco’s shoreline in horror. The rest of the story deals with Edith and her maid attempting to find Edith’s father, who became lost in that chaos, and with having to try to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake with fires everywhere, buildings collapsing every minute, people searching desperately for their loved ones and with food and water scarce.

Also, there’s a secondary theme of the story , which is the attempt on the part of San Francisco’s politicians to cover up the extent of the deaths

The whole novel is one memorable passage because it is a touching and exciting book that, with great descriptions, brings the emotions, chaos and governmental cover-ups to life and makes you feel like you were actually there, like you had experienced it. However, there is one short quote that really called my attention: “The early morning light was dull and hazy and the deathly still air very oppressive. I was filled with a peculiar feeling of horror and helplessness which I shall never forget.” (p. 129). That passage caused and impact on me and was memorable because it described the way the character in the book felt when she looked at the earthquake’s devastation on one morning, but, at the same time, it described exactly the way I felt every time I looked out the window at my father’s office days after the earthquake that shocked the Eje Cafetero on January 25, 1999 occurred. Every time I looked around, I only saw fires, collapsed buildings, people waiting for their loved ones to be found and rescuers working as hard as possible in order to find the missing people before it could be too late and I just felt an enormous desire to go out there and help but there was nothing I could do and that often made me feel like Daisy felt: useless.

Furthermore, the earthquake also made Daisy change her view about death. Before that episode in her life, she used to be scared of it. However, after that experience, she understood that nobody dies the day before and therefore, there’s no reason to be scared of death.

This was a great book. I just couldn’t put it down. The way Kristiana Gregory describes the damage and everything Edith and Daisy see makes you feel like you were living that situation yourself. This book proves that the 1906 earthquake really was a tragedy, and makes you feel thankful for life itself, judging on the death toll the author shows.

The book begins with a paragraph that immediately made me think that the main character’s life was difficult: “I carried the chamber pot across the yard to the outhouse. Holding my breath, I

Some topics in this essay:
God I’ve, MAIN CHARACTER, MEMORABLE PASSAGE, San Francisco’s, Daisy Valentine, San Francisco, Edith Daisy, Mary Exa, Daisy Europe, Cafetero January, san francisco, main character, character book, loved ones, daisy valentine, natural disaster, makes feel, city san francisco, san francisco’s, memorable passage, change totally, april 18 1906, main character book,