The Painting

Twenty-seven-year old Minneapolis divorce lawyer Molly Parker Graham has had a fascination with The Painting nearly all her life. She suddenly finds herself a Gold Star widow, her life turned upside down by Taliban machine gun fire that took her Army Ranger husband and a miscarriage that took their unborn son. Uncertain whether she can go on living or even wants to, she seeks respite and convalescence at her family’s one hundred-year-old lakeshore lodge in the north woods of northwestern Wisconsin. There she finds comfort and solace in The Painting, a pastoral wooded scene that has hung above the mantel in the Great Room of the lodge for nearly a hundred years.
While there, Molly learns that the lodge’s future is uncertain since the recent death of its owner, her great uncle, Elliot. Some family members want to take over the operation of the lodge. Others want to sell it. In her mental state Molly wants no part of the feud that is brewing. At a big family meeting with
Molly’s reluctance to get involved is overcome by the encouragement and cajoling of her eighty-three-year old great aunt Wilhelmina. Together, Molly and Aunt Will tackle issues surrounding their family, the lodge and Molly’s mental state
Molly and Aunt Will learn they share an affinity for seeing things that others do not, especially in The Painting. The artist, Wm Werner Wells is described as having been "a curmudgeon in the extreme, a naturalist, a botanist, an artist, a poet, a poacher and a thief!
Molly and Aunt Will struggle with issues related to their family lodge, the death of Molly’s great uncle and aunt will’s brother and more. Together they face these issues and more …