In 1892 Paris, Annie Shaw longs to escape the confining American Colony where she's lived for twenty years as a quiet Civil War widow. As a budding artist, she is ready to immerse herself in the Belle Epoque's vibrant life of art, literature, and music. But when her domineering mother-in-law announces plans to move in next door and make Annie her permanent caregiver, Annie feels trapped and must choose between being responsible for others-her expected societal role-or living her life on her own terms.

A reimagining of the life of which there was no historical record, Portrait of an Unseen Woman: A Novel of Annie Shaw is a bold historical novel that confronts the constricting Victorian norms of the late nineteenth century.