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The Lioness of Boston

By Emily Franklin

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NATIONAL 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.

ISBN-13

9781567928099

Publisher

David R. Godine Publisher

Page Count

408 pages

Product Dimensions

8.9 x 5.83 x 1.26 in

Officially Licensed
Ethically Made In Certified Factories

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1400 Massachusetts 
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Cambridge, MA 02138 

Tel: (617) 499-2000

Monday – Saturday
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Sunday 
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9 Brattle Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138

Tel (617) 499-2000


Monday – Saturday

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Sunday 
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Harvard Business School COOP

Spangler Center,
117 Western Ave,

Boston, MA 02163


Tel (617) 499-3248


Monday – Friday 
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Saturday - Sunday

Closed

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Harvard Law School COOP

1595 Massachusetts
Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138


Tel (617) 499-3255


Monday – Friday 
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Saturday 11am – 5pm

Sunday Closed

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The COOP Concept Store

40 Western Ave, Boston, MA 02134

Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm

Sunday 10am - 3pm

Ground floor of The Atlas Hotel, across from Harvard Business School

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Boston, MA 02115

Tel (617) 499-3300

Monday – Friday 
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