If you live outside of New England, you may never have heard of Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924). Or maybe you remember hearing that 13 pieces of artwork were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990, and that they were never recovered. Empty frames now hang where valuable paintings once appeared, to inspire visitors. But let's take a step back in time. Who was the woman who put this collection together? How and why did she do it? These are questions that are broached in this new work of historical fiction. Its focus is on the life of a remarkable woman whose name is often excluded from the history books.

After 20-year-old Isabella Stewart marries wealthy trader John Lowell "Jack" Gardner in 1860, she finds herself thrown into the usual social scenes created by the Boston Brahmins. Isabella comes from a wealthy family herself, and she grew up in New York and Paris, so these kinds of circles are not unfamiliar to her. But now that she is a young married woman of some means, her position is attached with certain expectations. Expectations of behaviors, of opinions, of appropriate actions to be taken. Isabella is a person who speaks her mind, though. She is smart, and she is full of curiosities, too. She doesn't necessarily want to conform to the expectations of others, and she grows not to care about being disinvited to major events. She needs to find her own way, somehow. She needs to find a place where she fits: one where she is welcomed, and one where her opinions will be heard and will matter.

Enter the world of art and the humanities. Isabella begins to have chance meetings with a variety of important artists and authors of the day. She had always admired art and architecture. Now she suddenly has access to such smart and creative people as Bernard Berenson, Henry James, John Singer Sargent and James Abbott MacNeill Whistler, among others. She can buy art directly from the artists themselves. And she does. Eventually her affinities draw her to decide not only to collect beautiful pieces of artwork, but to share her experiences with the public. This intention leads her to build and open a formal museum in 1903.

Of course, Isabella is human, and not every aspect of her life turns out to be as beautiful as the artwork she collects. Tragedies that occur among friends and family members serve to derail Isabella for a time. Perhaps, the art and the creative people around it help to pull her through her toughest times.

Standard biographies are difficult enough to write. To encapsulate a complex life into a single 350-page book? This would be a seemingly impossible task for many a writer. To do the same extensive research, and then to fill in the holes with imagined actions, conversations and outcomes, takes a special talent indeed. Emily Franklin has done a marvelous job in bringing Isabella's personality to life. She also includes final notes about the many sources she consulted and any minor liberties she took to make Isabella's story fall into place. Bravo!

The Lioness of Boston is a compelling life story about someone you probably don't know much, or enough, about. It should naturally appeal to art aficionados and to fans of The Gilded Age. Yet its primary audience could be anyone who is eager to read about a strong character who creates her own objectives, her own way of living, and her own legacy. This book has encouraged me to next read a biography about Isabella. I may even visit her museum for the first time (in spite of my usual inclination to avoid maneuvering into the big city of Boston, which looms a mere 60 miles away from me). Isabella Stewart Gardner would have been a fascinating person to talk and listen to. If only she would deem me to be worthy of such a conversation! Thanks again for this introduction, Emily Franklin.