VINCENT’S WOMEN:
The Untold Story of the Loves of Vincent van Gogh
Donna Russo's VINCENT’S WOMEN is the untold story of Vincent's loves: how they shaped his life, his art, and his death. It writes against the ‘myths,’ exploring the possibility that none of them are true. It is the only novel to bring into question his sexuality, how he lost his ear, who he lost it for, and how he might have died, all through the eyes of a woman. We learn of Her; we learn all of it through Her.
The story is guided by Johanna van Gogh Bonger, Vincent's sister-in-law, as she decides to reveal the truth about Vincent to her son. We are then taken on a journey through Vincent's life, each section bringing a pivotal moment of Vincent's life alive while showing us the part she played in bringing it about. Between each woman, our guide, Johanna, gives us the transitional periods, right up to his death, which is now in question.
Hundreds of the nearly thousand letters between Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo, now considered one of the greatest documents of the human experience, were used to help construct this novel, its narrative, and dialogue, especially the dialogue of Vincent himself.
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most well-known artists of all time. The world knows of his madness, traumas, and suicide. But what if all that we know isn’t true? What if this knowledge is based on rumors and nothing more? What if his true story is vastly different when based on factual material and forensic information? What if the truth of Vincent’s life—his madness and his genius—is defined by his never-ending search for love?
Advance Praise
"Vincent's Women: The Untold Story of the Love of Vincent van Gogh represents historical fiction at its best by melding the myths and facts of the artist's life with a dramatic biographical inspection that explores underlying truths about the pivotal moments of Vincent's life.
Donna Russo excels in vivid descriptions of these pivotal points in Vincent's life. These drive the fact-based story in a manner that explains, explores, and provides powerful insights into the artist's self-destructive impulses and actions and how they were perceived and interpreted by those around him.
The result is a multifaceted exploration of van Gogh's artistry, insanity, and relationships that examines personal perspectives in a unique manner designed to attract both art readers and those who hold only a cursory knowledge of the times and van Gogh's life and creations.
Backed by solid research and driven by the devices of fictional drama and dialogue, Vincent's Women is especially highly recommended for art libraries that may not usually contain fictional works, but which will find Russo's scholarship and the marriage between it and embellished drama to be astute, thought-provoking, and revealing."
--Midwest Book Review (D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer)
“A radiant and compelling novel of the painter Vincent van Gogh told by the women who knew him through his brief, often troubled, and sometimes joyful life. Each woman, from a cousin, a prostitute, an elderly nun, his devoted sister-in-law, and even his difficult mother, loved him in different ways. I kept hoping in turn that each would be the one to save him from his always returning darkness. Donna Russo Morin writes as lyrically and perceptively as a van Gogh painting, making me fall in love with his work all over again, this painter who “had the beauty of the world in him.” One of the most wonderful books about an artist I have ever read."
--Stephanie Cowell, Author of Claude and Camille: a novel of Monet, and Marrying Mozart. Recipient American Book Award.
"With the dazzling color of a van Gogh canvas, Vincent’s Women brings the artist to vivid life. Russo cleverly reveals the man through the eyes of the women who shaped him and his work, while challenging commonly held notions about his legend. I was left with an even greater appreciation of his art and with a deep respect for Russo’s research and writing. A powerful and satisfying read."
--Lynn Cullen, bestselling author of The Woman with the Cure and Mrs. Poe
Vincent's Women: The Untold Story of the Loves of Vincent van Gogh by Donna Russo is a historical fiction novel narrated by Johanna Bonger van Gogh, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, to her son, Willem. Johanna describes London from 1873 to 1874, when Vincent admired housemate Eugenie Loyer, sparking his passion for art. Johanna reflects on Vincent's life, his unrequited love, different professions, and inner struggles. In various episodes, Johanna describes Vincent's relationships with Kee Stricker Vos, Sien, and Margot Begemann as emotional drivers on his artistic journey. She explores his time in Paris, his partnership with Gauguin, and the pivotal ear-severing incident. Sister Epiphany at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum is a crucial support, after which his connection with Marguerite Gachet in Auvers-sur-Oise provides respite from his mental anguish until his tragic suicide.
Living in Europe, I have seen plenty of Vincent van Gogh's work, although I admit that aside from the ear severing and suicide, there was nothing more I knew of his actual life. As a feminist, I love books that dig deeper into eras when men wrote their own history and largely left women out of it. Donna Russo does an exceptional job in sussing out the women who had a significant impact on the artist's famous work in Vincent's Women. I think it is important to clarify that love is not just romantic, and romantic love is not always the most transformative. In this regard, the woman who stood out to me in Russo's exhaustively researched and wonderfully written book is Sister Epiphany. If I had to pick one woman from the line-up to spend time with, she would be the one. It's hard not to feel sorry for the women Vincent, for lack of a better term, abandoned. That said, Russo breathes life back into their roles in van Gogh's evolution. The writing and dialogue are all so well done, and the use of a fictional narrative makes it all feel authentic. Very highly recommended.
--Readers' Favorite 5-star Review
“Vincent’s Women offers us a fresh perspective on the life and loves of Vincent. Told through his sister-in-law’s voice, interwoven with Vincent’s and Theo’s actual letters to each other, the narrative offers the many alternative stories behind Vincent’s tortured life sympathetically, and sometimes very lyrically. Books like these are what I read for - to enter the lives of another, to live in his shoes, to see the world through his eyes. As the author’s notes indicate, the fact that much of the narrative is based on Vincent’s actual letters offers us a novel that is almost a biography. This is historical fiction at its best, although I hesitate to use the word ‘fiction’ for this novel given its foundations in actual correspondence, and forensic and police records. The narrative is compelling, the characters so real, and interspersed with the art they influenced, that a reader can identify the art by who inspired it by the end of the narrative. It’s such a tour de force of Vincent and his art that even a reader unfamiliar with his art would take leave of its pages feeling like s/he now ‘knew’ Vincent very well. I read the ebook version but this is a book I hope to get in hard copy so that I can keep going back to it, whenever, wherever. This is easily the best book I’ve read this year!” I can’t wait to get my hands on a hard copy of this book when it’s released - it’s definitely a keeper!!"
5-star NetGalley Review
Available for pre-order in e-format, trade paperback (hardcover and audio coming soon):