Queen of the Owls: A Novel

Barbara Linn Probst

Apr 2020 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A chance meeting with a charismatic photographer will forever change Elizabeth’s life. Until she met Richard, Elizabeth's relationship with Georgia O’Keeffe and her little-known Hawaii paintings was purely academic. Now it’s personal. Richard tells Elizabeth that the only way she can truly understand O’Keeffe isn’t with her mind—it’s by getting into O’Keeffe’s skin and reenacting her famous nude photos. In the intimacy of Richard’s studio, Elizabeth experiences a new, intoxicating abandon and fullness. It never occurs to her that the photographs might be made public, especially without her consent. Desperate to avoid exposure—she’s a rising star in the academic world and the mother of young children—Elizabeth demands that Richard dismantle the exhibit. But he refuses. The pictures are his art. His property, not hers. As word of the photos spreads, Elizabeth unwittingly becomes a feminist heroine to her students, who misunderstand her motives in posing. To the university, however, her actions are a public scandal. To her husband, they’re a public humiliation. Yet Richard has reawakened an awareness that’s haunted Elizabeth since she was a child—the truth that cerebral knowledge will never be enough. Now she must face the question: How much is she willing to risk to be truly seen and known?

About the author

Barbara Linn Probst is an award-winning author of contemporary women’s fiction living on an historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley. Each of her novels has been a medalist for prestigious national awards, including the Nautilus Award, the Hawthorne Prize, the Independent Book Publishers Award in both literary and popular fiction, and the Sarton Award for Contemporary Fiction, for which she was the gold medalist. Barbara’s newest book, Roll the Sun Across the Sky, launches in May 2025.

Barbara has a PhD in clinical social work and is a former researcher, teacher, and therapist. She has conducted workshops for organizations including the Author Learning Center, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and the Kauai Writers Conference, and has published more than 80 essays on the craft of writing and the writing life. In her spare time, she is a “serious amateur pianist” and an avid traveler to places such as India, Alaska, Spain, Italy, Armenia, and Iceland. Learn more on https://www.barbaralinnprobst.com/