The Secret Life of Sunflowers: a gripping, inspiring novel based on the true story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law

By Marta Molnar

There are many, many works from various media that focus on the artist Vincent van Gogh—books, movies, poems, songs, and of course prints of Van Gogh’s own artwork. The irony is that Vincent Van Gogh was not appreciated as an artist during his own lifetime. His brother Theo was not an artist, but he worked as an art dealer and made enough money to support his own family and his brother so that Vincent could concentrate on his artwork.

The Secret Life of Sunflowers is not about Vincent van Gogh. It tells of the efforts of his sister-in-law, Johanna Bonger van Gogh, to promote Vincent’s art and legacy after the death of both Vincent and shortly thereafter Theo. As a young widow, Johanna had to fight to even get recognized as capable of marketing Vincent’s art. She did this while caring for her young son and earning a living running a boarding house.

This is a dual timeline book. Emsley in our current day is an art auctioneer who faces residual gender discrimination in the art world. Because of the legacy of her bold and controversial Aunt Violet, Emsley pursues her personal and professional goals even in the face of the betrayal of her business partners who were formerly her best friend and her longtime romantic partner. Among other things, Emsley’s aunt bequeaths a diary and some old papers in Dutch to Emsley. They seem to hold secrets about Vincent van Gogh. Emsley has to dive into the meaning of these papers and an ugly small painting her aunt had saved. She accomplished all this while figuring out how to rescue her own business and fulfill her aunt’s final intentions.

The author of this book was intrigued with the story of Johanna, but she had great difficulty in finding information about Johanna in her research. She fleshed out the facts she discovered by adding interesting characters. Both timelines contain supportive friends—for Emsley and her aunt and for Johanna. These three are strong women, but having others come alongside made such a difference in their journeys. Emsley and Johanna both had difficult lives and had to push to make their ways in the world. Alternating between the two timelines was an effective technique as it relieved the building tension surrounding each protagonist. 

Rating: 4/5

Category: Historical Fiction, Biographical Fiction

Notes: 1.  #1 in the Light and Life Series

    2. Includes discussion questions

Publication:   July 19, 2022

Memorable Lines:

“Vincent says, If you hear a voice within say you cannot do something, then by all means do that thing, and that voice will be silenced.”

“Sunflowers mean gratitude to Vincent. He never loses faith.” I leaned against my husband and imagined an entire vast field of vibrant golden petals. Thousands of these flowers, unworried about the world, unafraid of the storms, turned as one in gratitude toward the sun.

If life was a rolling river, friendship was the life raft.