Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick
BUY IT NEW
- $14.99 List price$11.99 Online Price$10.79 Member price(Save 28%)Limited Time Offer! Everyone receives the Member Price on books.
See Details
Reserve it at BN.com & pick it up in 60 minutes at your local store.
Enter a zip code
(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: October 2009
- 401pp
- Sales Rank: 39,609
| More Formats | |
|---|---|
| Available in eBook | $9.99 |
Buy it Used: 14 copies from $7.49 See All Available
Customers who bought this also bought
Product Details
- Pub. Date: October 2009
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
- Format: Paperback, 401pp
- Sales Rank: 39,609
- ISBN-13: 9780061765278
- ISBN: 0061765279
Synopsis
"I'd heard about him but had never seen him, the foreigner with the funny name who wandered the countryside painting pictures."
F rom a talented new author comes a poignant and haunting novel of creation and desire, passion and madness, art and love.
A young prostitute seeking temporary refuge from the brothel, Rachel awakens in a beautiful garden in Arles to discover she is being sketched by a red-haired man in a yellow straw hat. This is no ordinary artist but the eccentric painter Vincent van Gogh—and their meeting marks the beginning of a remarkable relationship. He arrives at their first assignation at No. 1, Rue du Bout d'Arles, with a bouquet of wildflowers and a request to paint her—and before long, a deep, intense attachment grows between Rachel and the gifted, tormented soul.
But the sanctuary Rachel seeks from her own troubled past cannot be found here, for demons war within Vincent's heart and mind. And one shocking act will expose the harsh, inescapable truth about the artist she has grown to love more than life.
Publishers Weekly
In a knockout debut novel, art historian Bundrick (Music and Image in Classical Athens) brings Vincent Van Gogh's paintings and personal story to vibrant life. While Bundrick takes many liberties (recorded in an author's note) in her fictionalized account of Van Gogh's affair with her narrator, fille de maison Rachel Courteau, she gives Rachel such a believable voice that the proceedings seem genuine. At 35, Van Gogh meets lovable spitfire Rachel while surreptitiously sketching her in a garden. Having taken refuge in an Arles brothel after the death of her parents, Rachel greets Van Gogh as a customer not long after, and soon feelings blossom between them. Visiting friend Paul Gauguin and the cloud of Van Gogh's madness undercut the couple's bliss, as do financial troubles and Rachel's life at the maison, where she's kept a virtual prisoner. While infusing well-known historical moments (like Van Gogh's infamous self-mutilation) with vivid details, humanizing Van Gogh and putting his famous works in context, Bundrick generates an impressive volume of suspense, delight and heartbreak. (Oct.)
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
Sheramy Bundrick is an art historian and professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Sunflowers is her first novel.
Customer Reviews
- Reader Rating:
- Ratings: 6Reviews: 3
- See All Reviews
nice story of a great artistby kuhlcat
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
January 11, 2010: Rachel is the prostitute to whom Vincent gives his ear when he cuts it off. That is the only historical fact known about her. So the author took this seemingly minor person and spun a story about her relationship with Vincent during his time in Arles, France. Why would Vincent specifically ask for Rachel when he stumbles into the brothel that night? A good question, which the author answers with creativity and imagination.
The novel is littered with imagery of Vincent's paintings, especially my favorite, "Cafe Terrace at Night". The descriptions are so well written that I could vividly see his paintings in my head and feel emotions that he meant to convey through his art. I no longer have to go to the museum to get lost in his work; I only have to open this book and choose a paragraph.This story is an emotional, artistic, whimsical journey through the life of a troubled artist. It makes Vincent a person instead of just a historical figure and gives life also to those who influenced him and loved him. It turns Rachel into something more than just a fille de maison, into a woman who held the heart of the artist. Reading this book was like following the swirls and brushstrokes of Vincent's own art.Amazingby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
December 14, 2009: The author has written an incredible novel, almost as vivid as one of Vincent van Gogh's own paintings. Pick up this book, you will not regret it.
Loading...