The Lioness of Boston

Description

The Lioness of Boston
by Emily Franklin

ISBN: 9781567928099
Softcover, new

Brief Description:
BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER “Brings Isabella Stewart Gardner fully, intimately
alive–irrepressible and avid for life. In this richly compelling novel,
Emily Franklin beautifully conjures this extraordinary woman and her
world.”–Claire Messud, author of The Emperor’s Children A deeply evocative
portrayal of the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, the daring trailblazer
who not only created an inimitable legacy in American art but also
transformed a city. By the time Isabella Stewart Gardner opened her Italian
palazzo-style home as a museum in 1903 to showcase her collection of old
masters, antiques, and objects d’art, she was already well-known for
scandalizing Boston’s polite society. But when Isabella first arrived in
Boston in 1861, she was twenty years old, newly married to a wealthy
trader, and unsure of herself. Puzzled by the frosty reception she received
from stuffy bluebloods, she strived to fit in. After two devastating
tragedies and rejection from upper society, Isabella discovered her spirit
and cast off expectations. Freed by travel, Isabella explores the world of
art, ideas, and letters, meeting such kindred spirits as Henry James and
Oscar Wilde. From London and Paris to Egypt and Asia, she develops a keen
eye for paintings and objects, and meets feminists ready to transform
nineteenth century thinking in the twentieth century. Isabella becomes her
own person, painted by John Singer Sargent in a portrait of daring
décolletage, and fond of such stunts as walking a pair of lions in the
Boston Public Garden. With a mission to make art accessible to the public,
Isabella becomes the first woman to open a museum in the United States. The
Lioness of Boston is a portrait of what society expected a woman’s life to
be, shattered by a courageous soul who rebelled and was determined to live
on her own terms.