What if everything we think we know about Vincent van Gogh is all lies?
Vincent’s Women:
The Untold Story of the Loves of Vincent Van Gogh
by Donna Russo
Genre: Historical Biographical Women’s Fiction
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:
“Arresting…masterful… a provocative and compelling look at one of history’s most enigmatic artists.” -Publishers Weekly
“A symphonic novel that sheds new light on an elusive genius.” -Kirkus Reviews
“Vincent’s Women represents historical fiction at its best…astute, thought-provoking, and revealing.” -Midwest Book Review
“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.
“A powerful and satisfying read.” -Lynn Cullen, Bestselling Author of The Woman with the Cure and Mrs. Poe
“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
“This novel is not just a book; it is a masterful painting in itself, portraying the vibrant, volatile, and often tragic life of one of history’s most renowned artists.” -5-Star Amazon Review
“This is historical fiction at its best…a tour de force!” -5-Star Goodreads Review
“This is easily the best book I’ve read this year!” -5-star NetGalley Review
A Foreword Reviews Editorial Selection
FINALIST Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Amazon * Apple * B&N * Kobo * Bookbub * Goodreads
Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF96T2B9
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/vincents-women/id6459922073
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vincents-women-donna-russo/1143906069?ean=2940167612396
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/vincent-s-women
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/vincent-s-women-by-donna-russo-morin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200300623-vincent-s-women
Book Trailer:
Excerpt:
JOHANNA VAN GOGH-BONGER
1924
The Netherlands
“You think you know him. You don’t. You think you know what happened to him. You do not.”
“Mother!”
My son sputters. Tea spills as he drops his cup and saucer on the curly-legged table beside him.
It’s not well done of me. To dive into it. But I saw his eyes glance up to the portrait, the self-portrait of his uncle, Vincent van Gogh.
My son and I were speaking of his work and mine. In mine, it is there. All I have found. All I have discovered. The string, the true thread of such surprising colors. The colors of women, of love, and of lust.
He starts to rise to his feet.
“Please don’t,” I beg. I am not ashamed to. I will beg for more. And soon.
But he is kneeling before me as I quiver in my chair. His father’s greenish-blue eyes bore into me. I sigh from the comfort of them. My hands wring at the fear I’ve put in them.
I cup his face in my veiny hand. His face, long like his father’s as well. But capped by the startling red hair of his uncle.
“I am not long for this world. I feel it, my son,” I say. I know. Of that, there is no fear. Only of what I leave behind. “And when I am gone you will learn the truth. I’d rather you heard it from me.”
“Now, Mother…,” that long head shakes. I can’t stop my grin from forming as his shaggy hair flutters. He’s in need of a barber. I look at this young man as a child, I know. But he is that. My child. My only child.
“It is all right,” I assure him. Trying desperately to for it is my truth. “I am almost ready. I will be with him, with them, again.”
I am the widow of Theo van Gogh. I am one of the women who shaped Vincent van Gogh’s life. Just one of them. I am the woman who allowed the world to discover the genius of Vincent’s art.
Many come to me looking for answers. I have yet to give the true ones. Not even to him. I’ve guarded them. Their pain is too great. But the time has come. I can guard them no more.
I rise. Old bones creak. I groan.
My son, Willem, as he likes to be called, rises, and takes my arm. I lead him into my study.
Vincent’s art covers my walls, piles in corners. The Van Gogh family letters—some I’ve translated for I speak many languages; some I’ve read but not yet translated—stalagmites of varying sizes at various places. The odd pairing of my husband’s old, carved desk with the straightly cut modern chair behind it can barely be seen.
“This will all be—”
“You know I have little interest in all this,” Willem says, sounding like a child.
“Yes, yes,” I tut. “I know your mind bursts only when it sees numbers…your engineering.”
Now I hear Willem chuckle softly. He knows the true depth of my pride.
He helps me sit on one side of the beige brocade settee. I pat the other with an expectant look.
The time is drawing closer. I find it harder to swallow. I have no time for preamble. There is no time. I tire so easily these days.
“You will read my diary.” Once more I startle him. Unintentionally so. If there is a proper way to do this, to confess others’ sins as well as my own, I do not know it.
“Your diary?” He turns to face me. “I never knew you kept one.”
He is curious now. I’ve presented him with a puzzle. Perhaps it will help.
“I’ve kept one almost the whole of my life.” My gaze drops into my lap. “Save for the time I was married to your father.” A marriage that lasted not even two years.
Would he ask why I didn’t write during those years? I hope not. The answer is a tangle of love and despair.
No, it is better I tell him. Tell him the all of it. No matter how it will test me. How it may hurt. I will tell him the truth. I will pray he loves me still.
“There is the story of your uncle, of Vincent van Gogh, the story that the world has taken as truth.”
Willem has always worshipped the uncle—the man he was named for—that he knows only from my memories. The ones I’ve shown him.
“They say he went mad because of a certain kind of disease.” I try not to blush. I lose the battle. “It is not what caused his madness. They say he cut off his ear for a prostitute. He did not cut it off for her. It may be that he did not cut it off himself.
“And they say he killed himself.” I bang my moist hand on the fabric between us. “He…did…not.”
Willem gasps, flinches. I feel the cushion below me flutter with his jerky movements.
“But how can…why have you not—” He tries to interject.
I pay attention to none of it. I can’t. For once begun, this spewing of truth cannot be stopped. I can only hope he will be my son—that I will live in the same place in his heart—when the telling is done. I am, at last, ready.
“I will tell you, oh, yes, I will. I will tell you the truth of him…the truth of Vincent. Me…and Her.”
Giveaway
$20 Amazon
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
https://bit.ly/VincentsWomenTour
About The Author:
Donna Russo is the bestselling author of historical fiction, women’s fiction, and fantasy including the international bestselling Novels of Newport: Gilded Summers and Gilded Dreams as well as her latest release, Vincent’s Women.
Her critically acclaimed work has been praised with multiple awards and has received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.
For more awards and reviews, please visit https://www.authordonnarusso.com/books).
Additionally, Donna worked as a model and actor since the age of seventeen, working on such projects as Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and Showtime’s Brotherhood.
Donna is also an award-winning screenwriter, ghostwriter, and painter. She holds two degrees from the University of Rhode Island. Her two sons—Devon, an opera singer; and Dylan, a chef—will always be her greatest works.
Website * Facebook * X * Instagram * Threads * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads
Author Links
Website: https://www.donnarussomorin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDonnaRussoMorin
X: https://x.com/AuthrDonnaRusso
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authordonnarusso
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@authordonnarusso
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-russo-morin
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Donna-Russo-Morin/author/B002YTLEQO
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2729597.Donna_Russo_Morin
