Searching for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra is a story that will take you back in time to 1963. It touches on the war in Viet Nam, the Kennedy Assassination and life. Times were different, things were different and this book tells it well. The plot and characters are well formed. There are some emotional scenes where "coming of age" comes into play. Nate and Audrey have become friends at a time that is needed by both of them. Whether this friendship continues will keep you guessing.

I received a copy of this book on Book Whisperer and I always review every book that I read. This one was different from what I usually read, but it was worthwhile and interesting.

I enjoyed this book. I loved Nate as a narrator and Audrey as his companion. The way historical events were folded into the story was well done.

Donald Lystra is an award winning writer whom I’d never heard of before I read his second novel, and third published work of fiction, “Searching for Van Gogh.” He won several awards for his first novel, “Season of Water and Ice,” and his short story collection, “Something That Feels Like Truth,” and this third publication released this past February seems it, too, will receive some honors and awards.

It’s a simple, uncomplicated book, written in simple, plain language. It’s time spans just a couple of months, mainly just a few days, in the life of its two main protagonists, Nate and Audrey, as told from Nate’s point of view. It takes place near the beginning of the Vietnam War and amidst the draft, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and finally the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. During an impromptu road trip, they are changed. They learn. They mature. They grow.

The story unfolds quietly, slowly revealing secrets and truths that some would have liked to have been kept hidden. It demonstrates that everyone needs a little help now and then and someone to lean upon. It also shows that everything changes, including relationships, and nothing is permanent, even the lives we lead. It’s a touching story, showing that there is good in this world, if only people will respect one another and be true to themselves.

I received a free, advanced reader’s copy of “Searching for Van Gogh.” I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review of Searching for Van Gogh 07-12-24

Searching for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra is a journey with two young adults, Audrey and Nate in 1963 Michigan. Finding their way through family tragedy and family rejection takes this couple on the adventure to help each other build their grown-up lives. Nate is a math/science guy who discovers that are can heal and Audrey has shades of Holly Golightly without the sophistication of NYC. I wouldn’t say it’s a coming of age story but more of found friends growing and healing together. I would like to read more of Lystra’s work as he continues to master his craft.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Omena Hills Press for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review Searching for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra.
#NetGalley, #OmenaHillsPress, #DonaldLystra, #HistoricalFiction, #ComingOfAge, #YoungAdult
3 Stars- Pub.Date: 2-21-24

This novel was a unique coming of age journey. Audrey has flaws and eccentricities making her a memorable character. The story telling drew me in and I was hooked
Many thanks to Book Whisperer and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story is a coming of age tale involving a teen aspiring artist and a young woman. I found it somewhat difficult to get into the story though. It does include use of profanity and underage sex and drinking. It just was not my kind of read.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own entirely.

I had the honor of speaking with Donald Lystra about “Searching for Van Gogh” for the Storytime in Paris podcast. Here is what I said:

Ep 69 - Donald Lystra, “Searching for Van Gogh”

"Searching for Van Gogh" was not what I was expecting, and I mean that in the best way. This is a coming-of-age story, told from the perspective of Nate, against the backdrop of 1963. Nate has lived a relatively sheltered life, but recent events have thrust him from his bubble and he's learning that there's more to the world than what he'd been brought up around.

Our protagonist is Audrey (like Hepburn,) who, for better or worse, sees the colors in the world that Nate's eyes have not been open to. She's an unlikely mentor (friend? love interest?) and a perfect shepherd for Nate.

"Searching for Van Gogh" is as much about mood as about plot, and I loved the mood we were in. It wasn't fast-paced, but it didn't drag. You know the feeling when you first wake up in a bright room and you have to sort of blink to get your eyes to adjust? The book unfolds a bit like that.

Listen to the full interview here: https://bit.ly/3vivBps

An interesting read for those who like classics. Great story uncommon abilities helping to deal with common struggles.

Set in the early 1960's, this is a coming of age story told through the eyes of young Nate, who has left home and forms a friendship with young Audrey, a broken spirit in her own right.  Nate stumbles through various experiences, some with Audrey and some without, and by the end of the novel I was wondering if all young men during this time period were as stupid and yet as arrogant as Nate.  There was a good story here, but for me, Nate's narration came across as flat and ultimately left me wanting more from the other characters and less from Nate.

Set in the 1960s in the northern midwest, characters both of whom have been cast aside by traditional society become friends and support each other through significant life challenges.

In late 1963, Nate and Audrey cross paths in Michigan, living life as best they can and coping with the chaos of the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, and the regular challenges of young adulthood. Both characters have a different, artistic side to them that does not occupy a dominant part of their lives, but it is this artistic side that connects the two of them together. Following their journeys as they deal with the traumas and struggles of their pasts, readers get a fascinating insight into the American Midwest with all of its pros and cons and cultural uniqueness. Lystra’s use of the first person perspective creates a particularly fascinating and unique twist on the novel, while the ambiguity it creates is both interesting and complex. By giving readers a limited perspective to view the novel through, Lystra places the readers in the same unknowing position as Nate and Audrey. Nate and Audrey are complex, somewhat mysterious protagonists, and their interactions with each other, other characters, and the world around them are particularly enjoyable to witness in all their uncertainty and complexity. Full of interesting Van Gogh metaphors and references, this is a unique take on historical fiction.

SEARCHING FOR VAN GOGH
DONALD LYSTRA





This story of two young recent high school graduates transitioning into adulthood has all the tensions so common to those in real life. The author spins an interesting tale with feelings that intrigue the reader. Travel with them as they struggle to find the best solutions to problems beyond their years. Your emotions will ebb and flow as you read through theses pages. Do they make the right decision? Only by reading will you get the answer to that question!

4 Stars


I have received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Four Stars



Spencer Birt

This book was set in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1963 during the Kennedy era and the Vietnam War.
It described the budding friendship between Nate- a 17 yr old factory worker whose brother died in an accident on an Army bae during training, and Audrey, a slightly older furniture designer, who also works as a city guide to visiting men around Grand Rapids.
Both characters are coping with losses and unfulfilled dreams. Both have parent/child issues and unfulfilled dreams which caused them to leave home and try to establish themselves as adults.
Nate took up painting as a relief from work and felt that through painting, he can find his passion and produce great art. His brother was a talented pianist and Nate lived in his large shadow. Their father urged his brother into the Army to "make him a man" and the family is having difficulty coping with the accident.
I had a hard time connecting with the characters as the story seemed like a series of vignettes, without a theme. Nate's mother was distraught about the accident and wanted to bring their son's body home. When she approached Nate about helping her, his father talked her out of it. Later, Nate and Audrey decide to drive to the Army base and bring the body home. The interactions, decisions and relationships just didn't seem authentic or logical to me.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher and the opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to see the Van Gogh full immersion experience - I have always been intrigued with the artist and the stories behind his works. The immersion experience inspired me to spend more time learning about the artist and Donald Lystra's beautifully written book certainly captured Van Gogh and his story in a way that draws the reader in - just as Van Gogh's art does, feeling the art come to life.

Searching for Van Gogh by Donald Lystra was an interesting story of a young man and a young woman brought together by coincidence for a short while in 1963. The language and story were pretty stark, reflective of the times and the conservative mid-west, more than anything. Nathan was seventeen. He worked in an auto factory and rented a room in a private home. He had left his home in Detroit to come to Grand Rapids because his father didn’t want to pay for college. Really, he didn’t want to pay for college if Nathan didn’t study what he wanted him to. He painted in his spare time. He just thought it would be a good idea. He was doing OK when he met Audrey, a young woman who took walks every day. She said she ran a walking tour business, but he had his doubts. After weeks of talking she asked him to drive his car to her parents’ house to get something for her: a baptismal gown she had made for her dead baby. He did as she asked but got caught by her father. When his mother arrived wanting him to help her retrieve his brother’s body from its grave at a military base, he called his father, who came and got her. Later when he decided it needed to be done, he took Audrey.

It was a compelling story, full of secrets and innuendos. The characters were both stark, although I felt like I got to know them. Their stories were both, while not ordinary, the kinds of things that happen to people. This was a slice of life story, started at one point and ended at another, then moved along for both of them. It was interesting and the style was very different from what I normally read so there is that. I came away feeling it is what it is. Move on. Interesting book. Thanks Donald Lystra.

I was invited to read Searching for Van Gogh by Book Whisperer. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #BookWhisperer #DonaldLystra #SearchingForVanGogh

Courtesy of The Book Whisperer and Netgalley I received the ARC of Searching for Van Gogh, a coming of age story set in 1963 Michigan,written by Donald Lystra..This novel is complex and covers many issues: friendship, families, grieving, truthfulness, the meaning of art and vision. Written in an easily readable style, there is much to think about under the surface while the Vietnam conflict and Kennedy's assassination occupy the narrative. I enjoyed the references to art masters and how to portray what you see in front of you. Highly recommend!

In the early 1960s, America was facing many changes that trickled down to young adults in bits and pieces. Teenagers were expected to act as adults but still treated by society as children. There was a family structure that was followed by most households. You knew exactly where you fit into your family, school, community......unless you didn't. The closing months of 1963 would throw everyday life into a turmoil that America would never face again. These two young adults were trying to come to terms with the present while their future was uncertain. Donald Lystra brings the reader into the story as he easily paints their youth and confusion as only someone who lived this era could. The story is so well written, I found the end of the book long before I was ready to see the story close. An easy 5 star read that my reading circle is going to love!

Do you need a break from the nastiness and unapologetic hatemongering of the world outside your door? Do you want to take a trip back to a world still slowly moving into full awareness of how cruel it has become?

Here's you a read.

Two people carrying a lot of sadness find each other at very vulnerable moments in each one's life. Their entire worlds have narrowed into coping with loss and loneliness. Then...they meet, they connect, and they tentatively learn to communicate.

What on Earth is happening to this old man, I can hear you wondering. This kind of story never appeals to him! Quite true, it is not my native land, well-trodden paths to and fro everywhere one looks in my catalog of reads. I was pleased to read something with the personal stakes of this story...grief, loss, coming to terms with the way the world works, how families fail each other at crucial times. The prose is direct and unpretentious, the voices of the characters distinct, and that plus the storyline and setting gave me what I craved most: Investment and involvement with neither anger nor outrage, just the pleasant sense that this time the world handed these two hurting souls the balm instead of the liniment.

I needed an emotionally real story, uncomplicatedly told, with people in believable emotional pain that was not going to cause Disaster. I needed that story to end believably well without absurd, over-the-top machinations, like it does in the happier passages of Real Life. And I got what I needed. I am glad I read this direct, involving, kind story.

So, kindness seekers, come to Donald Lystra's doorstep and be fed.

I enjoyed this coming-of-age story set in the 60s, a time I remember well. The college-aged main character, Nate, seems naive in his relationships with girls, but he was much like many boys I knew then. Compared with today, it was a more innocent time. Nate's friendship and car journey with Audrey, an older girl by a few years, takes place over a fairly short time, but result in life-changing revelations for Nate. I liked the simple style of the author's writing, and there wasn't a single moment that dragged. I shed a quiet tear at the end. Recommended.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story had all of the important attributes to create a great book. Love, loss, growth and past experiences help all of the main characters grow as they move into the future. The people in the story come together briefly like how we meet others in our lives and before you know it, everyone is moving on to other places and things to better their futures. I am glad I read this story and loved the painting references with Van Gogh.