Hummingbird Books and JCC Greater Boston September Book Club - “The Lioness of Boston” by Emily Franklin
Join us for our inaugural book club meeting in collaboration with the JCC Greater Boston! For our first meeting, we will be discussing “The Lioness of Boston” by Emily Franklin. The author will be in attendance to join in on the discussion!
Date and Time: September 12, 2024, 1:00pm
Location: The Wexler Family Lounge, JCC Greater Boston, 333 Nahanton St, Newton, MA 02459
Please register using the link below
About the Book
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 and befriending 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 an eccentric trailblazer, 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.
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 determined to live on her own terms.