When Frederic Bartholdi unveiled his colossal Statue of Liberty in 1886, New Yorkers wanted to know who the masculine looking diva was that reigned over their city. Was she his mother? His wife? His mistress, perhaps?

Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Bartholdi was a member of a secretive brotherhood. Both men coded and hid privileged knowledge in their masterpieces. Although Bartholdi took the secret of Lady Liberty’s identity to his grave, he hid her name in plain sight. Her name can be found in the folds of her robe, in the crown that she wears and in the tablet and torch that she bears.

America’s Goddess tells the forbidden life story of the mystery woman enshrined in the Statue of Liberty.