Vincent Van Gogh is one of the world's most famous artists, and through his thousands of letters to his brother, we learn more about the artist, not as a painter, but a person.

Donna Russo's writing style is immediately gripping. While the name van Gogh pulls you in, Russo keeps you hooked by setting the scene and carrying you through it in seamless fashion. I'm not someone who usually reads nonfiction-adjacent works, but Russo clearly dictates a timeline, a focus, and although it's impossible to know him personally, I feel like I do. Vincent's life was by no means a walk in the park, and though his return to nature runs parallel to his small bouts of peace, to watch the disastrous events in his life unfold one after another was a gutting experience altogether.

Van Gogh is most known for his landscape and some portraiture work, but I deeply appreciated the ode to some of his most well-known paintings by adding them into the setting and making them a part of his life. The loves throughout his life all carry their own setting and story, and reading was like adding a piece to the puzzle that is his entire collection of works. His desire for love is something great that is clear in looking at his art, but to know the background to these pieces is something else entirely.

The writing style of this book was not for me but loved the story. I'm a huge fan of Van Gogh, I probably re-read when my mood and mind are more into the writing style.

I have great doubts if there is anyone who can stop looking at the magical paintings like The Starry Night without feeling something stirred inside the heart. Although not widely appreciated during his lifetime, Vincent Van Gogh is now famous for the great vitality of his works which are characterized by expressive and emotive use of brilliant colour to create something mysterious.

This is my first Donna Russo and I picked this up just because it bears the name of an enigma, Vincent Van Gogh! And, I am happy that I started reading this amazing book.

The author has done extensive research based on various forensic records and correspondence between the artist and his friends/family, especially with his brother Theo. The fictionalized version where the story is told by Van Gogh's sister-in-law- Johanna, is very compelling and interesting. The most interesting part for me was the moment when the artist chose himself to be known as only Vincent!

The book deals mostly with the women in the unlucky soul's life and how they shaped his thoughts, life and art. His early relationship with his mother wasn't a very smooth one and in later life he always held his heart in his sleeves and got entangled in various passionate relationships.

Not getting enough attention or recognition in his life has in fact pushed the painter towards more ingenuity. He ended up creating over 2000 paintings in around a decade, what a talent!

Thank you @netgalley @authordonnarusso for this ARC.

This book is available from March 26th 2024 on the both online and offline bookstores.

#historicalfiction #vincentswomen #NetGalley #netgalleyarc

In Vincents Women, the untold story of the loves of Vincent van Gogh by Donna Rousseau we learn about Vincent life from his loving father to his very very critical mother him being a Bandan and ultimately the first women he loved the off handed mensions of the ones he paid for and everything in between he had an obsession with his cousin Key, his obsession with the religion and so much more. This is a version of Vincent van Gogh I can honestly say I didn’t know what is being told from his sister-in-law his brother Theo‘s wife and she’s telling it to her son Willem who is also named after Vincent while getting all the papers and letters together that made up Vincent and his brother Theo‘s life. This is a great book with Miss Russo‘s very talented writing style she really knows how to tell an engaging story and although at parts said it is still so worth reading. Vincent van Gogh didn’t start paining until much later in life and I was surprised when the mother said she kept none of his paintings because she didn’t like any of them… She was a real piece of work so sad but still a great read! I want to thank One more chapter and net galley for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thanks netgalley for a review copy.

As a dutchie I needed to request a review copy for this book, be cause Vincent is our national art hero.
If you love art, love history and love a book that does not feel like a "school history book" then I highly suggest you go and read this book!
I will for sure order a physical copy because this belong on my art book shelf!

This work of fiction tells the story of Vincent Van Gogh and the women in this life, one of them being Johanna van Gogh Bonger, his sister-in-law who guides the story.

I love this artist’s work and have been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and so I was very intrigued when I learned about this novel. There have been numerous stories and rumors as to why he cut off his ear, committed suicide and his mental health difficulties. I found this book gave me a new perspective on his life and while the book is fiction, the book contains authentic letters between Vincent and his brother. If you have any interest in Van Gogh’s works and his life, I recommend picking this book up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Next Chapter for a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

In this complex, challenging historical fiction novel, readers alternate between the perspectives of several women who Vincent Van Gogh, a troubled nineteenth century artist, loved and lost over his life. Told from the perspective of his sister-in-law to her son on her deathbed in 1924, readers alternate from her perspective and understanding of past events to the real-time recollections and experiences of many key women, from Sian to Kee and to Vincent’s mother Anna. Exploring this artist’s challenging life through the female gaze allows readers to witness his rise and fall from an external perspective from those who may or may not have had a stake in his life’s work. Here, readers witness the artist’s volatility and vulnerability, his successes and struggles, from a deeply personal and emotional lens. Russo’s character development in this novel is masterful, as she handles several unique characters and personalities over the course of this challenging and complex novel. Settings are also critical to this novel, framing Van Gogh’s life as a backdrop to his various occupations and homes around western Europe. A challenging, complex novel about a challenging, complex man, Russo has created a fascinating fictional perspective of Van Gogh from the women he loved.

Donna Russo brings to life and gives a voice to the women who shared the short and troubled life of Vincent Van Gogh. Based on the letters sent between Vincent and his brother Theo along with letters they received from other artists and people that were translated and collated by his sister in law Johanna van Gogh- Bonger they give some alternative theories to the artist's life and death.
Well researched and beautifully written.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Vincent's Women: The Untold Story of the Loves of Vincent van Gogh.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC.

Heartbreaking, intense, elaborative! I think author did an amazing job, even though it’s fictionalised version she did a brilliant job doing her research and relating it to his real life.

Interesting concept for those interested in a Van Gogh inspired fiction biography of some kind.

Engaging writing.

I've always wondered about the women in Van Gogh's life. Author Donna Russo says we will either love them or hate them. The story is told quite beautifully in the voice of Vincent Van Gogh’s sister-in-law Johanna Bonger, and based on hundreds of letters from Vincent to his brother Theo. Far from the suicidal, despairing artist that dominates our knowledge of him, he was a sensitive, lonely man looking for kindness.

Although this was a fictionalized account of Van Gogh's all too brief life, the author used extensive research and documentation to bring a fresh take on the artist's tortured existence. I first read about the theory that Van Gogh had actually been murdered by a spoiled young prick, René, whose wealthy family covered it up, in the book "ArtCurious" by Jennifer Dasal. In my mind, it rings more true than suicide (read up on the evidence, it's fascinating).

This story held my attention with it's cinematic presentation. It created a vivid movie in my head, and I'll be thinking about it for a while. The descriptions of poverty, the struggle to simply live one more day, and the suffocating way women were treated and expected to behave were so heart breaking. I enjoyed how the author made Van Gogh come alive for me. I can visualize him at his easel in a French field, surrounded by the nature he loved. It's horrifying that his own mother destroyed an entire crate of his paintings, as his sister in law discovered when she was working to curate his work. I wonder what masterpieces have been lost forever due to her callous action? What a loss for the world.

Quite the entertaining read. Highly recommended.

This was such an interesting and fun book to read for me, I love a lot of Van Gogh’s work and I thought it was super fun to read about his in a different way, from another’s perspective.

I'm always so fascinated by the lives and minds of artists. This was such a unique perspective of Van Gogh's struggles with his sexuality and mental health. I will never look at his work the same again. I will highly recommend this book to all my art loving friends.

What an absolute joy this book was to read. I have always loved Van Gogh's wonderful work and have always been interested in his life, but the painstaking research by the author that has gone into this book takes his life story to a completely new level.

She introduced new characters in his life that I did not know about and bought to life the ones that I did know about. Also the places that he lived were bought to life and her description of them was astonishing that you felt you were there. I found it so refreshing and felt that you really got to know the man behind the master that he was.

This is my first book by this author and it will not be my last. Her writing was thoroughly engaging and I was mesmerised from start to finish. She bought Vincent to life. This is seriously a book that all Vincent's fans must read and even if not a fan I still thoroughly recommend it if you are interested in art

I was drawn to this book by the premise the author put together his travels and tribulations primarily from the 1,000 letters he and his beloved brother wrote over their short lives. That is what drew me to the book and what kept me going was the life he led, the many sketches and paintings he produced and especially the fractured yet interesting relationships with women’s along his life journey.
Well written, intriguing, and cleverly researched book. Highly recommend!
It moves along with dialogue gleaned from the letters.
The book held up to the end. I’m grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

OMG, I love Donna Russo, I love her writing style and I love Vincent Van Gogh. This book was incredible to read. I was able to get through it in a day! She have a way of bringing the past to life. The individual characters have a voice, I can hear it in my head. Her descriptions are so wonderful that I can see the settings. Honestly, I was trying to figure out who I would choose to portray the characters of this book if it were made into a movie...

The story of the very troubled Vincent van Gogh and the women who sympathized with him and tried to help him. Among the women were his brother's wife and the nun who helped nurse him at the asylum.

The writing style of this book was not my cup of tea. The material and story were interesting, but the way it was put together made it hard for me to fully emerse myself into it.

I desperately wanted to love this book as I love Van Gogh, his life, and his artwork. I think the premise of this book is fascinating and has great potential, but I could not get into it. It felt more like a description of events rather than a story being told. The writing felt a bit disjointed (not because we were jumping from past events to the story’s present, but because it felt like we did not get a full understanding of characters introduced and their motives).

I did DNF this book at 16%. I wanted to push myself to read more but I could not get past the writing style. Please do not consider the star rating as I normally do not give star ratings for DNFs as I do not believe it’s fair to rate a book I did not finish, especially one that was only 16% read.