Description
With unprecedented access to newly discovered sources, Donna M. Lucey illuminates the lives of four women painted by the society portraitist John Singer Sargent. With uncanny clairvoyance, Sargent's portraits hint at the mysteries, passions and tragedies that unfolded in his subjects' lives. Elsie Palmer carried on a labyrinthine love life in a Rocky Mountain castle; Elizabeth Chanler stepped into a maze of infidelity with her best friend's husband; as the veiled image of Sally Fairchild emerged on the canvas, her sister was lured into an ill-fated life in art; and shrewd Isabella Stewart Gardner collected both art and young men. Born to unimaginable wealth, these women lived on an operatic scale; their letters and diaries create a rich depiction of the Gilded Age and the painter whose canvases defined the era.
About the Author
Donna M. Lucey is the author of the New York Times best-selling Archie and Amelie and other books, the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities grants, and a 2017 writer-in-residence at Edith Wharton's The Mount. The media editor at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, she lives in Charlottesville.
Reviews
"Ingenious." -- Frances Wilson - Times Literary Supplement
"Straight from the pages of a novel by Edith Wharton or Henry James." -- The Times
"[Lucey pieces together] lost stories, and the stormy brew of scandal and repression that affected these women-and Sargent himself." -- Elle
"As rich as [Sargent's] portraits are, the textural evidence in which Ms. Lucey ensnares them is finer still." -- The Wall Street Journal
"It [Sargent's Women] tells of an era long gone yet still fascinating." -- Choice
"[These women] were smart, passionate, willful, adventurous and striking-looking.... Lucey's prose is invitingly conversational and quick-flowing." -- The Washington Post
"... these four well-researched mini-biographies are vibrant and never less than engaging." -- The Herald
Awards
Winner of Art in Literature: Mary Lynn Kotz Award 2018.
Book Information
ISBN 9780393356168
Author Donna M. Lucey
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 277g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 142mm * 23mm
About the Author
Donna M. Lucey is the author of the New York Times best-selling Archie and Amelie and other books, the recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities grants, and a 2017 writer-in-residence at Edith Wharton's The Mount. The media editor at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, she lives in Charlottesville.
Reviews
"Ingenious." -- Frances Wilson - Times Literary Supplement
"Straight from the pages of a novel by Edith Wharton or Henry James." -- The Times
"[Lucey pieces together] lost stories, and the stormy brew of scandal and repression that affected these women-and Sargent himself." -- Elle
"As rich as [Sargent's] portraits are, the textural evidence in which Ms. Lucey ensnares them is finer still." -- The Wall Street Journal
"It [Sargent's Women] tells of an era long gone yet still fascinating." -- Choice
"[These women] were smart, passionate, willful, adventurous and striking-looking.... Lucey's prose is invitingly conversational and quick-flowing." -- The Washington Post
"... these four well-researched mini-biographies are vibrant and never less than engaging." -- The Herald
Awards
Winner of Art in Literature: Mary Lynn Kotz Award 2018.
Book Information
ISBN 9780393356168
Author Donna M. Lucey
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint WW Norton & Co
Publisher WW Norton & Co
Weight(grams) 277g
Dimensions(mm) 211mm * 142mm * 23mm
