Publisher's Synopsis
Orphaned at fifteen in 1883, Ezekiel Harrington is forced from his home in remote Nebraska into the hands of strangers in Philadelphia. They steal what little he has and he flees their injustice. Only his drive and stubborn tenacity keep him from starving.
Over time, ambition and a chance encounter with a childhood friend change the course of his life. The friend, Robert Henri, is now studying art at the academy. Henri introduces Ezekiel to his cadre of striving artists. Among them is a crude Bohemian woman of tremendous talent, a woman Ezekiel immediately despises. The connection with Henri leads Ezekiel on the outrageous and chancy path of becoming an art gallery owner.
His business struggles until a request for portrait comes in from a member of Philadelphia's high society. The man insists the Bohemian woman artist will paint it and wants to use Ezekiel's gallery for the sittings. Ezekiel doesn't want her and her rough ways in his store until he hears the terms of the deal.
It is on the shoulders of this unforgettable woman, that his fortunes begin to take a remarkable turn as he comes to see her and her talent as a way to solvency. But his feeling for her begins to fire him. He can't account the emotion that has come over him, emotions that thrust him on an intense and unexpected course until after a betrayal he realizes some ironic and existential truths.
