Someone Always Nearby, Susan Wittig Albert
Someone Always Nearby, Susan Wittig Albert
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Someone Always Nearby
A Novel of Maria Chabot and Georgia O’Keeffe

Author: Susan Wittig Albert

Narrator: Maria McCann

Unabridged: 9 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/07/2023

Synopsis

In 1940, art-world icon Georgia O'Keeffe bought a house in a mountain-rimmed New Mexico desert, planning to live there for six months every year. To manage her remote household while she paints, O'Keeffe invited Maria Chabot—a young and naïve would-be writer—to join her. Their tempestuous relationship endured throughout the chaotic years of WW2, the death of Georgia's domineering, philandering husband (famed photographer Alfred Stieglitz), and Maria's design and building of a remarkable adobe house and studio for the artist in the native village of Abiquiu—a generous gift from an exceptional friend. An evocative story that explores the dimensions of friendship and the debts we incur to those who make our lives easier, Someone Always Nearby is based on research into a massive collection of over 700 letters, documents, media reports, and historical accounts. Listeners will be fascinated by this intimate, revealing portrait of the artist's daily life during her first decade at her New Mexico ranch—a mysterious, enigmatic O'Keeffe that only one woman ever fully knew. A bonus guide is available as a free, printable pdf at SusanAlbert.com/Someone-Always-Nearby. It includes the story behind the story: research, sources, hyperlinked resources, curated extras, author commentary, questions, and discussion topics.

About Susan Wittig Albert

Susan Wittig Albert is the New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred books. Her work includes four mystery series: China Bayles, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the Robin Paige Victorian Mysteries. She has also published three award-winning historical novels as well as YA fiction, memoirs, and nonfiction. She and her husband live in Texas Hill Country, where she writes, gardens, and raises an assortment of barnyard creatures.

About Maria McCann

Maria McCann is an audiobook narrator who graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. She has appeared in over forty films and television shows, including Lucifer, Shameless, and Grey’s Anatomy, and works as an acting coach. A Los Angeles native who is proud of her Mexican heritage, she is a busy wife and mother who serves on the board of directors for Colorado’s Wild Animal Sanctuary.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on January 24, 2024

Well Georgia O’Keefe was hell on wheels - what a dreadful woman. She referred to her so called friends as slaves and treated them as such. This fictionalized version was a real eyeopener- well researched and nicely written. I enjoyed the history of New Mexico mixed in with the story. I’d never heard......more

Goodreads review by Beth on November 15, 2024

I read this for a library book club. The amount of research that Albert put into this book is certainly exhaustive. In many ways, it read more like a nonfiction biography than a novel, which is likely why the author begins with an explanatory forward. I, however, found the book frustrating. There is......more

Goodreads review by Jerry on May 20, 2024

I liked it. The author took piles of correspondence between O'Keefe and Chabot and crafted a novel around it. It meandered a bit and I wish it included a bit more on how Chabot, the protagonist, lived her life in the later decades but overall, it was a cool read.......more

Goodreads review by M. on November 20, 2023

This is a fascinating account of Georgia O'Keefe the artist, but even more a glimpse of the complex, difficult woman behind the art. In addition, it contains fascinating bits of history about the world she chose to live in for half of every year and returned to permanently after her husband's death.......more

Goodreads review by Paula on January 03, 2024

Loved the setting and beautiful descriptions of the southwest. The story was good but seemed to lack something.......more

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