The Lioness of Boston

Renewal and Reinvigoration Later in Life continues to be a major theme. Many of the significant events of Isabella’s life, especially her serious commitment to her art collection, occur in the second half of her life. She also continues to experience suffering and loss, particularly with Joe’s death in 1886.

While Isabella forges a path for herself and reconciles her idiosyncrasies with the world around her, Joe’s death is a reminder that many individuals in this era were not as lucky. Some of Isabella’s later losses also grant her new opportunities: Isabella has always had access to significant wealth, but the fortune she inherits upon her father’s death in 1891 (when Isabella is 51) gives her true freedom and license to buy whatever she wants. The money is symbolically as well as materially liberating: It is independent of Isabella’s marriage and furthers her autonomy. Isabella quickly becomes obsessed with acquiring works of art. She is moved by pieces that evoke memories, and her art becomes a way for her to revisit and recapture aspects of her past.

Isabella’s commitment to art collecting leads to her forming a significant new friendship with the art historian Bernard Berenson. Historically, Berenson specialized in Renaissance artworks and worked as an advisor to a number of notable American art collectors, including Isabella. In the novel, Berenson’s Jewish heritage leads to him experiencing exclusion and prejudice; Isabella’s decision to embrace his expertise reflects her willingness to value and uplift marginalized individuals, another example of how she subverts social norms.

Franklin captures gender discrimination when Isabella makes her first major purchase: Vermeer’s painting The Concert. Isabella conspires to have a man bid on her behalf: “I knew that my presence, my female form, no matter my means, would not allow me to win” (332). Isabella has become savvier as she has aged and is now able to find strategic ways to achieve her goals. However, she continues to make occasional blunders: Jack reacts badly to the unveiling of Sargent’s first portrait of Isabella. Historically, the portrait was considered somewhat shocking due to the portrayal of Isabella in a low-cut dress and the stark contrast between her black dress and white flesh, echoing Sargent’s famous and likewise controversial painting Portrait of Madame X. Isabella chose to have this painting displayed in a room at Fenway Court known as the Gothic Room, which was not open to the public during her lifetime (the room was opened later, and the portrait can now be viewed there).

The novel gives little attention to Jack’s death and Isabella’s subsequent grief. Franklin depicts Isabella as bereft; she ponders, “[W]ho are we when we build a life with someone, seam together with them, only to come undone?” (360). While Isabella grieves the loss of her husband, by the time Jack dies, she has a strongly established sense of self and a deep understanding of her desires and motivations. Historically, Isabella only purchased the land for Fenway Court after Jack’s death. In the novel, she demonstrates Resilience in the Wake of Tragedy by forging ahead with their initially shared project. The relationship has been a source of support and strength to Isabella, such that she can continue on even after Jack is gone.

The novel climaxes with the public celebration of Fenway Court on January 1, 1903, with the New Year’s Day date symbolizing hope and new beginnings. The party is well-attended and Isabella no longer feels like an outcast; instead, she can appreciate people “see[ing] what I’d made, which was another way of seeing me” (364). Once Isabella is at peace with her purpose and her vision for her life, she no longer craves recognition in the same way. She has been able to create belonging for herself rather than wait for others to bequeath it. While Isabella lived for almost 20 more years after the opening of Fenway Court, closing the novel with the party provides a sense of culmination to Isabella’s lengthy quest for meaning and purpose. It also answers the question of what will live on after her: While Isabella may not have had biological children, she leaves her legacy.