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

The Secret Life Of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar is an inspiring novel based on the true story of Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law, and is the first in the author’s “Light & Life Series.” I love novels based on historical facts and The Secret Life of Sunflowers is right at the top of my favorites.

The novel alternates between Johanna van Gogh in the late 1800s in the Netherlands and France, and Emsley Wilson in contemporary times, New York.

In 1889, Amsterdam, Johanna Bonger married the love of her life, Theo van Gogh, the brother of a struggling painter, Vincent van Gogh. Theo and Vincent were very close and as young men pledged to always be supportive of each other. Johanna and Theo moved from Amsterdam to France, where Vincent’s artwork hung on their apartment walls. As Vincent started showing signs of mental illness, Theo helped him, both financially and emotionally. After Vincent took his own life, Theo tried to pick up the pieces, pay his bother’s debts and salvage Vincent’s paintings. He grew more distant to Johanna and their young son, and finally succumbed to mental illness and died in a sanatorium. Johanna, dedicated to her husband’s memory and his intentions toward his brother, took up his ambitious endeavor to promote Vincent van Gogh’s work, to introduce his legacy to the world.

Emsley Wilson, a present-day Hollywood auctioneer, rushes to her beloved grandmother’s bedside in New York. When her grandmother dies, Emsley is left with the job of cleaning out her grandmother’s New York 100 year-old, four-story brownstone. She comes across what she believes is her grandmother’s diary, but soon realizes it belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law. What develops changes not only Emsley’s view of life, but life itself.

I loved The Secret Life Of Sunflowers. It has all the elements of a fine read: it is both lighthearted and heart breaking. Vincent van Gogh is a well-known name, but I loved learning more about his views on light and his dedication to sunflowers. Jumping to contemporary times, I enjoyed Emsley’s wry humor as she attempts to unravel not only the mysteries of her grandmother’s life, but also of the connection between Johanna van Gogh and her grandmother. The author, Marta Molnar, also has a pen-name, Dana Marton, which she uses when writing fantasy, romance and suspense.