Author: Emily Franklin
Title: The Lioness of Boston
Publication Info: Boston : Godine, 2023. 
Summary/Review:
This historical novel details the remarkable life of a real life woman, Isabella Stewart Gardner. Originally from New York, Isabella marries her friend’s brother from Boston and finds herself isolated from the stuffy, stratified society of the city’s elite. Not only is Isabella an outsider but her interests in science and nature and her eccentric tastes further isolate her. After the tragic death of her only child, and extensive travel in Europe and Asia, Isabella determines to chart her own course in Boston society. This builds up to her creating her gift to the city, a unique museum of the artwork she collected over the decades.
Isabella acquires her own coterie of friends including many intellectual luminaries of the Athens of America as well as figures known worldwide such as Henry James, John Singer Sargent, and Oscar Wilde. There’s a lot of name-dropping in this book! From what I know of Gardner’s life, the novel follows her basic life trajectory. The text includes a number of letters between Gardner and her correspondents and while her real correspondence exists in great quantity, author Emily Franklin made these letters up to serve her narrative. Even better is the dialogue among Gardner and her famous friends which no one could know precisely, but I believe is true to life if not strictly factual.
Recommended books:
- The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
Rating: ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 