The Secret Life of Sunflowers

February 13, 2023
Molnar (Broslin Creek, as Dana Marton) offers a delightful story about an American woman’s possible connection to the family of Vincent Van Gogh. Emsley Watson is struggling to keep her niche L.A. auction house afloat and hasn’t been able to raise the money needed to buy out her cheating boyfriend partner. After her grandmother Violet has a stroke, Emsley visits her in New York City, and then inherits the contents of Violet’s brownstone upon her death. There, Emsley uncovers a diary from 1887 Amsterdam by someone named Clara. The book chronicles the life of Johanna (née Bonger) Van Gogh, who married the painter Vincent’s brother Theo, and whose story emerges in a parallel narrative. After moving to Paris with Theo, Johanna encounters the erratic Vincent. Theo explained to her how “Sunflowers mean gratitude to Vincent. He never loses faith,” and after Vincent’s death, Johanna determines to protect the Van Gogh legacy. Shifting between Emsley and Johanna, Molnar unfurls a gripping set of mysteries: Who is Clara? Could Emsley be related to the Van Goghs? And who painted the picture of an ugly baby Emsley found in Violet’s house? Molar effectively portrays Emsley and Johanna as strong, dauntless women determined to rebuild their lives after setbacks. This is a delight.

In this novel, two strong-willed women strive to build artistic, independent lives in different centuries. High-powered Los Angeles-based auctioneer Emsley Wilson has a lot on her plate. She spends her days arranging political auctions for celebrity donors, and after-hours, she has a complicated personal life to manage. Her ex-boyfriend and business partner, Trey, dumped Emsley for a close friend of hers who also works for their auction house. But Emsley always makes time for her grandmother Violet, a legendary New York City artist, gallery owner, and socialite recovering from a stroke in a rehabilitation facility. When Violet sells her Greenwich Village brownstone, Emsley's mother insists that she clean it out because "who knows what risqu� pictures of Violet with her celebrity friends might be at the house." Violet then presses an ancient diary into Emsley's hands before she returns to the West Coast. On the plane, Emsley begins to read it and is instantly transported to 19th-century Amsterdam and the life of Johanna Bonger, van Gogh's sister-in-law. Like Emsley, Johanna wants to chart her own path as an independent woman. But according to Johanna's mother, "Women are like the canals, steady and calm, the supporters of life. Men are like barges traveling to the seaports, having adventures and collecting their treasures." Emsley barely has time to read the diary before she has to confront Trey's plot to dissolve their business, which transforms into a demand that she pay him $1 million within 30 days for his shares or walk away from everything she's built. As Emsley struggles to save her business, she is drawn into Johanna's family life and quest to establish van Gogh's artistic legacy. Fans of Maggie Shipstead's novel Great Circle will find much to love in Emsley's and Johanna's braided storylines, with romance, knowledgeable references to art history, and evocative descriptions of Amsterdam, New York, and Paris. Molnar's witty dialogue advances the plot briskly; in one fun exchange, Johanna's brother mocks Monet's move to Giverny, France, and claims that the artist's decision to paint waterlilies "will be the end of him in the profession." But the cleverly drawn supporting characters would be more robust if they had additional opportunities for action and reflection instead of banter. An engrossing, impeccably researched tale connecting passionate, creative women across time.

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