Nature Lover

Based on real events, this novel uncovers the fierce, forgotten women of the Gilded Age art world who risked their reputations to paint their own destinies. It delivers a brilliant blend of hidden history, high-society rivalry, and the timeless fight for female independence.

She refused to choose between her art and her heart. So she kept both, on her own terms.

New York, 1871. Laura Woodward arrives at a Manhattan studio building with paint under her fingernails, leaves in her chestnut hair, and no intention of becoming anyone's wife. At thirty-seven, she has turned down every proposal, saved her own money, and left the family farm behind to do the one thing the Gilded Age art world insists a woman cannot: build a career as a professional landscape painter.

The gaslit halls of Dodworth's Studio Building offer her a new family of fellow artists, two very different men who test her resolve in very different ways, and a front-row seat to a string of brazen art thefts that no one can solve. One man makes her laugh until she can't breathe. The other makes her forget to breathe entirely. Laura wants neither a ring nor a cage, but the heart doesn't always follow the plan.

From the wild peaks of the Catskills to the tropical jungles of a Florida coast that hasn't been named yet, Laura's fierce eye for beauty will lead her somewhere no one expects. Including the man who will build America's most famous resort, if she can show him what she sees.

Based on the extraordinary true story of the woman who inspired the creation of Palm Beach, and written by the art historian who brought her back from obscurity.

Perfect for fans of Marie Benedict, Fiona Davis, and The Personal Librarian.