The Nature Lover - by Deborah C Pollack (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"The Nature Lover is a superb story that weaves together equal parts virtuous and inspiring narrative and the hypnotizing beauty of American art history of the nineteenth century. Laura Woodward was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. She was incomparable and adventurous, boldly traveling from Upstate New York, to New York City, and to South Florida, while staying true to the Hudson River School principle of portraying the divinity of nature. Therefore, it is exceedingly fitting that Woodward's greatest advocate, Deborah Pollack, would pen such a touching historical novel centered on this artist's compelling life".--Marisa J. Pascucci, Curator, Art Historian, Educator

Deborah Pollack's talent for crafting strong narratives takes center stage in The Nature Lover as she breathes new life into the world of Hudson River School women. Through historical fiction we can better imagine their vibrant, bustling lives as professional artists and more fully understand and appreciate their artistic practices. A fascinating and compelling read.--Nancy Siegel, PhD, professor of art history, Towson University; author of Susie M. Barstow: Redefining the Hudson River School; co-author and curator, Remember the Ladies: Women of the Hudson River School, Thomas Cole National Historic Site

I have read and followed the nonfiction writings of Deborah Pollack for over a decade. Her meticulous, thoroughly researched, and original work has always exceeded my expectations. Her foray into historical fiction is no different. Pollack's crisp and engaging style is a joy to read. In the pantheon of female Florida authors such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Edith Taylor Pope, Zora Neal Hurston, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Deborah Pollack has earned her stripes.--Robert W. Harper, Executive Director of the Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, from 1998 to 2019

If you enjoy and are curious about majestic landscape artists, then you'll want to read and learn more about these two, lesser-known, but magnificent women landscape painters who were among the Hudson River School of artists--Woodward and Beers. Fun reading!--Catherine Lowe, M.D., alumni member of the Florida Division of Arts and Culture (1998-2002), Black History Month Honoree (2014), and founder and leader of the cultural educational organization Lowe Art Breakthroughs (L.A.B.)

This tender, inventive historical fiction by Deborah Pollack is written with an elegant and dramatic flair that takes readers back to the Gilded Age, when women artists were creating a new space to live and work in the world. Following the life of the beloved Florida pioneer artist, Laura Woodward, The Nature Lover portrays the clash between traditional high-society expectations of women at the time and the passionate pursuit of art. It is marvelously entertaining with a healthy measure of intrigue right up to the very end.--The Honorable Mayor of St. Augustine, Florida, Nancy Sikes-Kline

About the Author

A former CBS soap opera star known as Deborah Courtney and a longtime speaker and art dealer, Deborah C. Pollack graduated with honors from Temple University with a degree in art history.

She has written ten nonfiction books, such as Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South (used in graduate school courses), Vintage Miami Beach Glamour, and Palm Beach Visual Arts. Prizes include the 2023 Florida Book Award Silver Medal for Florida Sculptors and Their Work: 1880-2020, and a women's history award from Florida Memorial University (HBCU) for the scholarly biography Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach.

Deborah's essays are in such distinguished books as the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and Central to Their Lives: Women Artists in the Johnson Collection, and her articles have appeared in prestigious periodicals, including the American Art Review, New York History Review, Tequesta (journal of HistoryMiami), and many in Tustenegee (journal of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County). She also contributed a two-part article "Philander and Philenia: An Indiana Love Story," for the Hoosier Genealogist: Connections, Indiana Historical Society. Her poetry has won prizes and poems and short stories have been published in the series Healthy Stories (Miami Dade Health Department).

Deborah appeared in a film that won a Telly Award for the Education Network, shown repeatedly on PBS, concerning Laura Woodward, and has been interviewed on several radio programs. She is honored that the BAFTA-winning filmmaker Phil Grabsky recently interviewed her in a podcast about the important artist Hermann Herzog, and that he also included her in a forthcoming Seventh Art production concerning the Palm Beach artist Sandra Thompson.

Deborah's presentations have been at around twenty museums, cultural associations, such as the Library Association of Palm Beach County and around ten times at The Society of the Four Arts; and private book clubs. She was a recent table host for the West Palm Beach Library Foundation. A member of prominent cultural groups, including the Cultural Council For Palm Beach County, Deborah is also a longtime South Florida Writers Association member.