The Lioness of Boston

In the autumn of 1886, Isabella, Jack, and Joe travel together to England. Isabella and Jack continue to be concerned by Joe’s moods and hope he will feel a sense of belonging in England. Isabella tells Joe that “travel allowed me to forget myself, to find myself again. This is what I wish for you” (284). In England, Henry James arranges for Isabella to meet with the painter John Singer Sargent.

Isabella, Joe, and Henry James meet with Sargent, and Isabella asks him to paint her portrait. A few days later, in October 1886, Joe dies by suicide and Isabella’s mother dies shortly afterward. Isabella also learns that Crawford has gotten married. These losses make Isabella increasingly committed to finding a way to capture memories and images.

Isabella and Jack purchase the property next to their home on Beacon Street so that they can expand and have more room for the many objects Isabella collects during their travels. She also meets and quickly befriends a man named Bernard Berenson, who is interested in art history and art collecting. Berenson has faced prejudice and discrimination because of his Jewish origins. Isabella gives him money so that he can travel to Venice.