The Lioness of Boston by Emily FranklinMy rating: 3.75 stars
My favorite thing about this book was the voice of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Told in first person, the narrative is beautifully reflective of historical Isabella as she navigates social isolation, and finds her way to being a patron and curator. As with any historical fiction, there are liberties, and Franklin does a good job of describing them in the afterword. I did question the choice to go forward with certain intimate details which, as far as I know, is just speculation. I look forward to reading Natalie Dykstra's Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner to more clearly separate fact from fiction.
My biggest complaint about the book was the superfluous "name dropping." Franklin says that the art show in Paris took place, but Isabella was not there, and the whole scene felt very much a who's who of Impressionism rather than something that enriched the narrative. There were times were the historical references to art works in the ISG Museum felt a bit overwrought, and the dinner parties were likewise too focused on illuminating a panoply of historical figures. Most enriching was her (fictionalized) correspondence with Charles Eliot Norton, and the importance of the Dante Society, as well as her interaction with John Singer Sargent, whose portraits are especially significant to those who know the museum. There were some others as well, but without having a secure sense of the history, it was hard to parse the significant figures from the incidental ones.
Generally an entertaining book, particularly as I live in Boston and enjoy the ISG Museum as one of our real treasures. It is fun to think about how she might have been, and Franklin tries to bring her closer to our hearts as a woman trying to carve out a space for herself (in this case, Fenway Court, as it was called) in a world of art and culture very much commandeered by men.
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2026 Reading Goals: 39/60
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