Mrs Van Gogh: The breathtaking historical novel inspired by the true story of the woman who made Van Gogh famous

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shocked and bewildered that despite her key role in the growth of Vincent’s posthumous fame, Johanna’s story had been all but ignored … I’m neither a historian nor a biographer, I had little choice - and much pleasure - in writing an imaginative reconstruction of a brief marriage and the story of how a young widow changed art history … this novel offers a creative account of the remarkable woman who became “the guardian of Vincent van Gogh’s legacy. It's a story that will ensure that readers go straight to Google, to find out more about the Van Gogh family. Dr Caroline Cauchi worked as a university lecturer for several years before turning her hand to fiction.

She likes the idea of what Montmartre artistic area offers – to be bohemian and flamboyant, without any rush to marry. For the most part Mrs Van Gogh is an interesting and entertaining read, the last 100 pages however and in particular the effects of Vincent’s death and Theo’s illness are exceptional. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. After Vincent’s death and then Theo’s six months later she became the owner of most of Vincent’s artwork including paintings, sketches and his letters. Through determination and perseverance, she pushed her brother-in-law’s name and art into the public eye.

The author seems to be making statements about the treatment of women artists and women’s lives in general but for me it wasn’t new and it could’ve been dealt with in a quicker way. This book answers all that and more in such a way that will stay with me … probably for my lifetime. I, like the Johanna in the novel, initially didn’t like the Vincent portrayed but eventually came to understand why he was like he was and in the end I had sympathy and empathy for him. At the time of her death, she was still engaged in translating 526 of Vincent's letters into English.

Although advised to leave the paintings in Paris, a center of the art world, instead she moved back to the Netherlands with the canvasses and hundreds of sketches, as well as the large cache of letters from Vincent to her late husband. I loved how this started and the important light shined upon the female artists in Paris in the late 1800s.

After Vincent's death, Theo organized an exhibition of his brother's paintings in their Montmartre apartment in Paris. However, there was a lot in this story that gave me pause, and this feeling of confusion and unease was not made any better after reading the author's note.

Meeting characters such as Camille Claudel, a highly talented sculptor in her own right, yet always defined by her being Rodin's lover, accentuated what Jihanna was beginning to understand for herself. Everything about Johanna's story is astoundingly beautiful and hers is a story that needed to be told, a voice that deserved to be heard. A biography focusing on Jo's life, Jo van Gogh-Bonger: The Woman who Made Vincent Famous, was written by renowned van Gogh scholar Hans Luitjen and published in Dutch in 2019. But knowing or not knowing the person he might have been, does not keep me from appreciating his amazing artwork. Who the hell allowed “I stick my hand over to his side and took that of my brother in mine”, you can just say “I took his hand”, honestly you can.After the turmoil of Theo's decline in his mental health and death, Johanna's real strength of character emerges with her creating her own name in ensuring that the world becomes aware of the talent of Vincent alongside his brother who had always supported him. Until Jo and Theo marry at sixty percent of the way into the book, the story is fictionalized and unfolds as a historical romance starting with Jo arriving in Paris under a cloud of shame, hoping to be an artist. In our conversation, Caroline explains what drew her to Johanna, what new insights she learned into Vincent, the photograph that inspired it all, and so much more. As a lover of Vincent's artwork I was interested to read a story telling of his sister-in-law's efforts to bring his paintings to the attention of the art world. It didn't ring true to me, so I looked at other sources and found the author has changed many details about Johanna's and Theo's courtship and Johanna's contacts with Vincent.

He wants her to achieve her dreams but their parents are keen to marry Jo off to an old man of their choosing. The relationship was turbulent to say the least, and Theo’s love for his brother often created problems within his relationship with Jo.Author Caroline Cauchi details the time before and during Theo's and Jo's courtship through their very brief marriage and early deaths of both young men.