The Secret Life of Sunflowers (by Marta Molnar)
The Secret Life of Sunflowers first caught my attention because of the sunflowers. They are my favorite flower. It wasn’t until recently that the book caught my eye for a different reason. A fellow reader’s Goodreads update made me look at the cover again, and I realized the woman on it is Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law.
As a Christmas present in 2022, my husband gave me a biography of Jo: Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman Who Made Vincent Famous. I cherish that book. Learning about her life from beginning to end was an amazing experience. You can read my review here.
When I realized The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Dana Marton, writing as Marta Molnar, was historical fiction about Jo, I immediately bought the audiobook from Audible.
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds a diary while clearing out her renowned artist grandmother’s New York brownstone, she discovers it does not belong to her grandmother. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law. After the deaths of Vincent and her husband Theo, Johanna—a young widow with a baby, little money, and almost no French—was left with a collection of unsold paintings no one wanted. The novel follows her fight to bring Vincent’s work to the world.
In the present, Emsley’s business is struggling, an unexpected romance appears, and family secrets come to light. Johanna’s story becomes a source of strength and guidance. The two timelines are woven together and draw on Johanna van Gogh-Bonger’s letters and diaries.
I enjoyed the novel as a whole and the way the author connected Jo’s story to the present-day characters. The dual timeline worked well, and the story flowed nicely. The contemporary characters were a treat. Emsley is strong, sophisticated, and independent—an easy character to root for—and I was glad things continued to work out for her. Her grandmother seemed fascinating, and I would have liked a little more of her earlier life, though that would likely have pulled focus from the heart of the book.
My favorite part was Jo’s diaries. The author did excellent research. Her portrait of Jo lines up with what I have read in the biography mentioned above and in Vincent’s letters to Theo. I am currently reading The Complete Letters of Vincent van Gogh, the three-volume set Jo compiled. Without her, most of us would never have known Vincent the artist. The author clearly took some liberties with conversations and inner life, as historical fiction must, but she does a fine job suggesting what may have happened based on the known facts.
In the author’s note, Molnar describes her research and her admiration for Jo. She also notes that when she wrote the book, Jo’s diaries were not yet widely available to the public. The original four diaries are held at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. They were opened to researchers in 2009 and made available digitally in 2019 to coincide with Hans Luijten’s biography of Jo. You can read the four diaries in English and Dutch on the museum’s website here. The English version includes helpful annotations. I am looking forward to spending time with them.
I love imagining the inner lives of real people while reading about them. Given what I already knew about Jo, Theo, and Vincent, it was a pleasure to meet them again in historical fiction. This book is a welcome addition to my collection of books about Vincent.
The audiobook was a pleasure. Kendra Murray narrates beautifully.
I was also curious why Dana chose to publish this book as Marta Molnar. In the author’s note, she explains that this historical novel is a sharp departure from the romantic suspense, romance, and epic fantasy she had written before. She did not want readers expecting her usual genres to feel misled. Traditional publishers rejected the manuscript about nineteen times. She chose to self-publish and built a new platform under Marta Molnar rather than tying this new genre—and this new publishing path—to her established Dana Marton brand.
I came for the sunflowers and stayed for Jo. The Secret Life of Sunflowers is a satisfying companion to the nonfiction, not a substitute for it. I’m glad I listened.
As I mentioned, sunflowers are my favorite flower, and I couldn't be happier to have discovered Van Glow sunflowers. Please enjoy the photos of this summer's bounty.
I'll leave you with a quote from Vincent himself: “I think a painter is happy because he is in harmony with nature as soon as he can express a little of what he sees.”
Photo credit: lostthepath.com
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