Brings Isabella Stewart Gardner fully, intimately alive--irrepressible and avid for life.
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..
And finally becomes the first woman to open a museum in the United States.
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.
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.
Freed by travel, Isabella explores the world of art, ideas, and letters, meeting such kindred spirits as Henry James and Oscar Wilde.
After two devastating tragedies and rejection from upper society, Isabella discovered her spirit and cast off expectations.
Puzzled by the frosty reception she received from stuffy bluebloods, she strived to fit in.
But when Isabella first arrived in Boston in 1861, she was twenty years old, newly married to a wealthy trader, and unsure of herself.
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.
Isabella Stewart Gardner, vision not only created an inimitable legacy in American art but also transformed a city.
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 the daring trailblazer for women everywhere.
Brings Isabella Stewart Gardner fully, intimately alive--irrepressible and avid for life
