The Luminist by David Rocklin

Photography comprises the bright, tensile thread in the sweep of The Luminist, drawing tight a narrative that shifts between the prejudices and passions of Victorian England and those of colonial Ceylon.  It binds the destinies of Catherine Colebrook, the proper wife of a fading diplomat, who rebels against every convention to chase the romance of science through her lens, and Eligius, an Indian teenager thrust into servitude after his father is killed demanding native rights. (from the front book flap)

By the time I picked up David Rocklin's The Luminist, I'd forgotten the main gist of the plot and setting, so I didn't know what to expect.  It's historical fiction, set in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka) in the first half of the 19th century and is loosely based on the life of Julia Margaret Cameron, a British photographer.

I've never thought about what the early, still-just-exploring, don't-even-really-have-a-name-for-it-yet days of photography must have been like for the pioneers in the field.  I enjoyed learning more about it, and learning about it all in the context of Ceylon in the same time period.  I found the ending extremely satisfying -- certainly didn't tie up all loose ends, but left one with a sense of hope for redemption and completion.