The Secret Life of Sunflowers is the interesting story of Johanna Bonger, sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, who, despite overwhelming odds, ensured the genius of van Gogh’s art was eventually recognized and valued after his death.
I read The Secret Life of Sunflowers as part of the 2024 Thoughtful Reading Challenge. February’s challenge was to read a book with a flower in the title in honor of Valentine’s Day. (Fun fact: According to an article on the British Florist Association’s website, an estimated 250 million flower stems are sold globally on Valentine’s Day.)
First, a quick summary of The Secret Life of Sunflowers.
The story alternates between modern day New York City and Paris and Holland in the late 19th century. In today’s world, Ensley is reeling from double blows – her business is on the rocks and then her beloved grandmother dies. She is responsible for sorting through her grandmother’s effects, which includes a mysterious diary and a set of letters that seem to be connected to Vincent van Gogh.
The diary tells the fascinating story of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, who was married to Vincent’s brother, Theo. The two lived in Paris and had a child together whom they named after Vincent. The brothers were very close, and the younger brother supported his artistic sibling because Vincent failed to make a living as an artist. Did you know Vincent van Gogh died in obscurity and never saw his art appreciated? Johanna vowed to take care of that!
Within a couple of years after the wedding, Vincent shot himself and died a couple of days later. Theo died soon after that. The book implied that he had a mental breakdown and died in an asylum of a broken heart, however the New York Times reports that he died an agonizing death from syphilis. Regardless, Johanna makes it her mission in life to make Vincent’s art known to the world as a way to honor her late husband and brother-in-law.
This turns out to be a challenging task. She doesn’t know how to be an art agent, plus the world isn’t quite ready for van Gogh’s style of art, especially the bolder pieces. But Johanna was persistent, a woman on a mission. Thanks to her, we know about van Gogh.
Supplemental information from a New York Times article reveals that she had the genius idea to combine Vincent’s personal story with his art so that people would understand the context and that this art was coming from a tortured soul. And voila! – everyone knows he cut off his own ear and killed himself. What do you know of Monet’s or Degas’ personal life?
For more information about Johanna Bonger, read “The Woman Who Made van Gogh.”
As for the present-day part of The Secret Life of Sunflowers, it had a romance, attempted quirkiness, and the requisite and unnecessary bashing of conservatives. Overall, it didn’t do much for me. Despite that, I’m glad I listened to the novel because it introduced me to Johanna’s intriguing story and taught me new things about van Gogh.
What about you? Did you read a book with a flower in the title? Tell us about it in the comments section!
**Reminder – March’s challenge is to read a book that takes place in Paris.
Book Thoughts from Bed 
I didn’t read a book with a flower in the title (I am not the best at keeping up with literary trends!) but…I did read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah for my book club. And we are looking for suggestions for books to read and I will definitely recommend this one! Thanks Michelle and congrats on your recent award!!
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Thank you!
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Ooooooh, I absolutely loved Trevor’s book!
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I meant to read Winter Rose by Patricia A McKilip but I didn’t get around to it. Maybe, next month.
I’m fascinated by your pick. I’m sorry to say I’d never heard of Johanna Bonger before reading this review but I certainly want to know more about her now.
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I hadn’t heard of her, either. The power of reading! 🙂
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Sorry, I missed this one Michelle. Well, I guess if they bash conservatives, I’m actually not. Hoping to be back up and reading this month with you!
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I need a new audiobook to read as I frantically pack for vacation. Going to give this a go. I love sunflowers and Vincent’s story, so…
PS I didn’t read your full review in case there were spoiler alerts, so I will pop back over when I am done to add a more meaningful comment. 😉
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I read “Violeta” by Isabel Allende for the February challenge.
This review on Amazon is a great summary of the book although I think this reviewer liked it better than I did. I would rate it about a 3.5 out of 5. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3E8E7P39VX3MY/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B09B2QN15R
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Sounds like you wouldn’t recommend it? 🙂
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I just finished this book tonight, although obviously not as part of the February challenge because it is April. 🤫
Overall, I would say that I am glad I read this book, but I wouldn’t really recommend it to someone else — and that includes my Mom who is an artist who loves van Gogh.
Why? I knew a lot about Vincent, Theo, and Jo already, largely because I lived in the Netherlands for three years and I listened to a podcast about Jo a few years ago. (And my Mom knows infinitely more about Vincent’s story than I do.)
My favorite parts were the special statement by the author at the end of the book (and mega props to her for her attempt to help tell Jo’s story, especially under challenging circumstances) and any part that included present day Cousin Sergey.
Otherwise, I felt the present day story was super predictable, most of the characters were “mid” (as my kids would say), and parts of the plot had holes. Instead of finishing the book longing for more time with any character, I keep trying to understand why Emsley had to come home from the MoMa show in a robe and t-shirt instead of the clothes she wore there. And the whole storyline about the party at the Vanderbilt mansion, etc seemed really far fetched and didn’t add anything to the story (Was he really Em’s grandfather with no DNA proof? Could someone really figure out something that happened 50+ years ago via an old photo during a Google search? And even if the answer is yes to both questions, there had to be better, more logical ways to instead build up the suspense about how Violet got the diary.)
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Completely agree with everything you said!
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