Using the scaffolding of Isadora Duncan's life and the stuff of her
spirit, Amelia Gray's breakout novel delivers an incredibly imaginative
portrait of the artist, resulting in "a stunning meditation on art and
grief by one of America's most exciting young authors" (NPR).
As dynamic, enthralling, and powerful as the visionary artist it
captures, Amelia Gray's Isadora is a relentless and living portrayal
of a woman who shattered convention, even in the darkest days of her
life.
In 1913, Isadora Duncan was known as much for her stunning dance
performances as for her eccentric and salacious personal life -- her
lovers included poets, directors, and the heir to the Singer sewing
machine fortune. But when her two children drowned in Paris, she found
herself taking on a role she had never dreamed of.
The tragedy brought the gossips out in full force, and the grieving
mother wanted nothing more than to escape it all. Fleeing the very life
she had worked so hard to build, she left her sister, Elizabeth, holding
the reins of the artistic empire along with Elizabeth's lover, Max, who
had his own ideas for greatness. For two years Isadora cast about prewar
Europe, living on credit on islands in Greece and in shuttered
beachfront dwellings in Italy. She lashed out at her dearest lovers and
friends, the very people who held her up. But life had cracked her
spirit in two: on one side, the brilliant young talent who captivated
audiences the world over; on the other, a heartbroken mother spinning
dangerously on the edge of sanity.
