American Ancestors | American Inspiration: The Lioness of Boston

Last night — on September 11, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. — I watched a book talk on The Lioness of Boston written by Emily Franklin and published by Godine. This webinar was hosted by American Ancestors in partnership with the Boston Public Library and GBH Forum Network. Franklin has published over twenty novels and poetry books, but The Lioness of Boston, based on the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, is her first historical fiction novel. Other speakers during the talk included Margaret M. Talcott, Director Of Literary Programs & Partnerships at American Ancestors; Kristin Motte, Adult Programs Librarian at the Boston Public Library; and Claire Messud, an author of six novels. Frederique Rigoulot, a journalist at GBH, moderated the chat and Q&A.

Franklin described her first exposure to Isabella Stewart Gardner and her legacy. As a high school student in Boston, Franklin visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and wrote a paper about two paintings: Rembrandt’s Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee and Vermeer’s The Concert. Not long after, the paintings were stolen, and the empty frames hang in the museum to this day. Franklin explained that Gardner was the first woman to open a museum in the United States, paving the way for future female patrons of the arts like Peggy Guggenheim.

Franklin described how Gardner began collecting for her museum because of tragedy. Her only child died, and she was unable to have more. At the behest of her doctor, Gardner and her husband, John “Jack” Lowell Gardner, Jr., took trips abroad to improve her health. She became an avid traveler and lifelong learner, attended all-male lectures at Harvard, collaborated with writers and artists, collected rare books, and funded art and architectural projects.

Her growing circle of intellectual friends came to encompass many of the most famous names from Boston who lived during the time period. A shortlist as given by Franklin included: Henry James, John Singer Sargent, Julia Ward Howe and her daughter Maud Howe Elliott, Sarah Orne Jewett (whose home in South Berwick, ME is owned by Historic New England; I visited both in person and virtually last year), Annie Fields (whose home in Portsmouth, NH I also visited last year), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (whose home I recently visited; blog post coming soon!), and Charles Eliot Norton. As the first professor of art history at Harvard, Norton connected Gardner with his promising student, Bernard Berenson. Gardner developed a strong relationship with Berenson, who became her art scout and found works of art for her collection. Berenson experienced antisemitism in the art market, academic world, and even with members of Gardner’s family, but she always defended him. Franklin referred to Garner as a “proto-feminist” who acted as an ally for other societal outcasts.

Franklin deliberately included references to events happening in Boston society and throughout the world. She contrasted the elite “Boston Brahmin” living on Beacon Hill to the African American community in the next neighborhood. Other Boston events included the first swan boats, the beginning of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the construction of the Emerald Necklace, a series of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted . Franklin chose to have Gardner attend the first show of the Anonymous Society of Painters in Paris, a group now called the Impressionists. Although Gardner never saw this show, Franklin wanted her to interact with Berthe Morisot, the only woman artist in the show.

Because Gardner needed a place to share her art with her many friends and the rest of Boston society, she hired architect Willard Sears to construct Fenway Court in the Back Bay Fens. The museum opened in 1903 when Gardner was sixty years old. She wanted the building to look like the Palazzo Barbaro in Venice, Italy. Gardner had strict rules for her museum, which were enforced upon her death in 1924. Nothing in the collection can be moved, and no new works can be brought in. Additionally, women named Isabella get into the museum for free. Franklin believes Gardner set these regulations because the museum itself is her masterpiece, a modern work of art made from other works of art.

During the Q&A, Franklin explained her writing process. She has always been interested in research and the past, especially the sensory experiences of a different time. While she does not come from an aristocratic background, her experience growing up in both Boston and London helped her to understand the European hierarchical mentality. Franklin read the complete letters between Gardner, James, and Berenson to learn Gardner’s voice, and she wrote fictional letters to further the plot. Franklin described the most difficult part of the writing process as cutting down her manuscript. The finished novel is about 375 pages, but the first draft was around 500 pages. Her editor assisted her with removing subplots and characters to create a novel the right size for a book group.

I greatly enjoyed this discussion around The Lioness of Boston. The transitions between speakers were incredibly smooth, and their presentations were an ideal balance between scripted portions and impromptu conversation. I look forward to future talks in the American Inspiration series and hope to read Franklin’s book in the future.