Book excerpt: A beautiful art book and a richly illustrated biography, The Red Rose Girls is the story of three remarkable women artists--Jessie Willcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and Violet Oakley--who captivated early-twentieth-century society with their brilliant careers and bohemian lifestyle. Nicknamed by their mentor, the famous illustrator Howard Pyle, The Red Rose Girls lived and worked at a picturesque former inn of the same name in an idyllic suburb on Philadelphia's Main Line. In the course of their years together they formed intimate bonds of friendship and love and enriched each other's professional lives by sharing ideas and inspiration. Smith and Green were prolific illustrators, celebrated for their work in children's books and periodicals such as Scribner's, Collier's, Harper's; and Oakley was a painter and muralist of national reputation whose work graces the interior of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. Full-color illustrations and wonderful period photographs bring their work and milieu to life.