I enjoy Vreeland's novels about artists but I didn't think this was one of her better ones. Clara Driscoll was the artist who created most of the famous "Tiffany" lamps. This book is a fictionalized account of her life and working relationship with Louis Comfort Tiffany. It also chronicles the unequal treatment of women in the work force at the turn of the twentieth century. Clara's frequent battles with the Tiffany Studios executives and the men's union over the work her all woman staff are portrayed throughout the story. In addition to her work life, Clara's relationships with the men in her life were also problematic. Because of Tiffany's strict rule against married women on his staff, Clara once quit her job to get married. Upon the death of her husband she was rehired at Tiffany Studios. The no-marriage rule was a serious problem the entire time she worked there and led to unfortunate situations in her personal life and the lives of her staff. She remains devoted to Tiffany even though he gets all the credit for her work. Many of the best known "Tiffany" lamps should be known as Driscoll lamps.
Vreeland does an admirable job of portraying the lives of artists and the artistic process. However, in this case, the repetitive descriptions of the ins and outs of the stained glass artistic process gets a bit tedious. At one point I thought if I read any more about cutting patterns and glass, I would just close the book and not finish. However, she pulls no punches when showing the dark side of L.C. Tiffany. I guess my love of the "Tiffany" dragonfly lamp (which I do not own--even in copy form) kept me going.
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