Book excerpt: "Portraits of an Artist: A Novel about John Singer Sargent is a work of historical fiction based on the life of a brilliant yet troubled artist of the late nineteenth century. A contemporary and associate of famous celebrities such as Henry James, Oscar Wilde, Edward Burne-Jones and Sarah Bernhardt, Sargent's meteoric rise to fame followed by his striking fall from grace, and his retreat to London from Paris, are the tragic underpinnings of his unforgettable career. The stories behind two of his finest paintings, "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit" and "Madame X", are also explored in context. Told in first-person perspective from the points of view of numerous individuals who figured prominently in Sargent's life, "Portraits of an Artist" is an unforgettable reconstruction of a talented man's search to find meaning in life through art. Highly recommended." -- The Fiction Shelf of the Midwest Book Review "An evocative rendering of the great portraitist, John Singer Sargent, as seen through the eyes of the subjects of his most famous paintings. A tour de force of historical and psychological imagination." --Paula Marantz Cohen, author of What Alice Knew, Jane Austen in Scarsdale "Burns skillfully brings the subjects of his portraits to life, telling their stories in their own voices as the mystery of who Sargent really is, and the culture that both supported and constrained him, is gradually and artfully revealed." -- Laurel Corona, author of Finding Emilie, Penelope's Daughter, The Four Seasons