Portrait In Passion

by Maggie Osborne

A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN'S STORM-WRACKED ODYSSEY IN AN AGE OF BREATHTAKING OPULENCELovely young Kate Callahan was innocent of the harsh realities of existence when her swashbuckling robber-baron father died and left her stripped of the protection of wealth.Painfully, Kate had to learn the facts of life and love in a New York where every decent door was closed to her, and houses of ill-fame were all too open...in a bohemian Paris ablaze with art and amour, genius and madness...in a Victorian world where a woman had to break every rule to make her way...and in a labyrinth of passion where a ruthless, superbly sensual tycoon and a handsome demonically driven painter both laid claim to Kate's body and tore her heart in two...

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Romance

487 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

aka
Margaret St. George

Maggie Osborne is the author of I Do, I Do, I Do and Silver Lining, as well as more than forty contemporary and historical romance novels written as Maggie Osborne and Margaret St. George. She has won numerous awards from Romantic Times, Affaire de Coeur, BookraK, the Colorado Romance Writers, and Coeur du Bois, among others. Osborne won the RITA for long historical from the Romance Writers of America in 1998. Maggie lives in a resort town in the Colorado mountains with her husband, one mule, two horses, one cat, and one dog, all of whom are a lot of aggravation, but she loves them anyway.

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

PORTRAIT IN PASSION focuses on three years in the life of Kate Callahan, the spoiled heiress of a self-made millionaire. Faced with the sudden loss of home & security, she blames her father's business rival Reynolds & vows revenge on the city that turned its back. Then she hires a companion (the secondary heroine, Claire) & accepts a proposal from the skeevy artist-suitor whom her father discouraged. But when Kate & Claire reach Paris, they find the skeevy artist (Neil) is even worse than her father once feared, since Neil has no money, sanity, or talent (except for grotesque impressionist scenes of sexual violence against families -- charming :P).

Despite Kate's efforts at salvaging the marriage, she can't avoid her husband's money problems & moral decay. Neil gifts Kate's small inheritance to his equally-skeevy mistress, then hires Kate to other painters for modeling. But one of the artists is a nice guy named Pignalle & eventually he convinces Kate to pose for a pregnant nude -- the first of its kind & an assured scandal. Though reluctant, Kate sits for the painting. She can't deny it's gorgeous -- but The Plum taints Kate's reputation. Not only does it lower her to a whore in the eyes of most viewers, but it startles her self-imposed morality. Meanwhile, Neil's worsening mental issues threaten her very survival. She manages to escape back to NYC...but her lust for Reynolds & The Plum's scandal continue to haunt her, even as financial revenge comes to fruition.

The book blurb is a bit misleading. The 'houses of ill-fame' revolve more around Claire's backstory than Kate's current desperation. Also, Kate's loyalty to her husband is from a sense of duty, not affection. But is Kate's morality childish? Is she upright by her own choice, or is she allowing society to dictate her relationship with Reynolds & her attitude toward The Plum? Kate is very young; even at the close, she's only 20 years old. She's known nothing but blind acceptance of the social expectations Reynolds & The Plum urge her to reject. Should she be proud of causing such a scandal? (Ah-ha, a debate worthy of Wilkie Collins himself. ;))

As far as the classic definition of bodice-rippers, this is relatively tame. The heroine is raped (not by the hero) & suffers abuse from her husband, but plot-wise it's nothing you wouldn't see in an average Victorian sensation novel. Kate & Reynolds' romance is...well...romantic, not shameful. Rather, the biggest tension centers on Kate's relationship with The Plum & how she can't (or won't) sever that connection when circumstances allow.

I quite enjoyed this one. It's a long book, focused on a small cast of characters & isolated interaction between them, but such a leisurely pace fit the style & era. The plot has an artsy, melodramatic flair reminiscent of Ouida, complete with nude paintings & absinthe-riddled horror.

4.5 stars. :)

[Vivisection · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novel that sweeps through Park Avenue society in turn of the century NYC and an impoverished artist's studio in Impressionist era Paris. A heroine who goes from inhibited, pampered daughter of a business Titan, a scandalous artist's muse, and eventually a poison pen journalist as she struggles to become an authentic woman. Now, lest you feel this falls short of a true old school bodice ripper, I feel compelled to add that there is indeed a genius midget painter, a whore with a heart of gold and a big old knife scar on her face. Rapey rape, absinthe addictions, domestic violence, twisted love triangles, and madness can also be found within these pages. Never fear. However, it is so well written, I challenge you not to shed a human tear. Thirty years later, third time reading, and it STILL gets me.