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Becoming Isabella
A Novel
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Check link for latest rating. ( 10,344 ratings, 1,157 reviews)
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Format: Hardback
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Becoming Isabella
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This novel will appeal to lovers of historical fiction and biographical tales, especially those interested in art history, women’s history, and cultural transformation in 19th-century America. Readers who enjoy richly detailed, character-driven narratives with a strong feminist perspective will find this a compelling and inspiring read.
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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 decolletage, 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.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Critics praise Becoming Isabella for its rich, vivid prose and richly compelling portrait of an extraordinary woman. Claire Messud lauds it as bringing Gardner "fully, intimately alive." The Toronto Star highlights its gorgeous writing and marks it as one of the year's best. Reviews from the Patriot Ledger, Historical Novel Society, and Shelf Awareness commend the novel’s nuanced characterisation and beautiful detail, noting its celebration of a courageous woman defying her era’s restrictive norms.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781567927405
Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher Inc
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 25 May 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: David R. Godine Publisher Inc
Illustration: Illustrations
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 25.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 228.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 356
Collections
About the Author
Emily Franklin is the bestselling author of The Lioness of Boston, based on the life of trailblazer Isabella Stewart Gardner, and more than twenty other books including a poetry collection, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, and The Journal of the American Medical Association, among many other places, as well as featured and read aloud on National Public Radio, and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries. Her next novel, Love & Other Monsters, will be published in April 2026.
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