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From the dawn of the twentieth century to the devastation of World War 2, this exhilarating novel of love, war, art and family gives voice to two extraordinary women and brings to life the true story behind the creation and near-destruction of Gustav Klimt´s most remarkable paintings.

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1900: Adele Bloch-Bauer-young, beautiful, brilliant, and Jewish-meets the modern painter Gustav Klimt in turn-of-the-century Vienna when sex, art, and anti-Semitism are just beginning to break through the fa‡ade of conventional society. Her intoxicating vulnerability and intensity fuel a love triangle that threatens her world, even as it ignites the creation of Klimt´s greatest works: Judith , the blood-lusty femme fatale; the Portrait of Adele in gold, and the voluptuous Kiss.
But political hatred is brewing. A hungry young artist haunts Vienna´s streets and museums, and his name is Adolf Hitler.
1938: Maria Altmann is a love-struck newlywed when the Nazis invade Austria, and overnight, her beloved Vienna becomes a war zone. When her husband is arrested and her family is forced out of their beautiful, stately home on the Ringstrasse, Maria must summon a courage she never knew she possessed-and faces impossible risks in order to preserve the legacy of heroism and brilliance that her aunt, the renowned Adele Bloch-Bauer, instilled in her.
Twining the tales of two remarkable women across more than a hundred years, Stolen Beauty juxtaposes passion and discovery against hatred and despair, and shines a light on our ability to love, to destroy, and above all, to endure.

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Laurie Lico Albanese has published fiction, poetry, journalism, travel writing, creative nonfiction, and memoir. Her books include Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir, Lynelle by the Sea, and The Miracles of Prato, co-written with art historian Laura Morowitz. Laurie is married to a publishing executive and is the mother of two children. To learn more visit her at LaurieLicoAlbanese.com.

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