Book #42 - Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick

I was inspired to read this book by my sister, the artist. This genre of "a novel" about a historical person has really captivated me as of late. I've so enjoyed being a part of the character's lives. This book was a look at the life, tragedy, and talent of Vincent Van Gogh. As I read this book, all I could think about was the line from the Josh Groban song Vincent when he says, "I can tell you Vincent, the world was not made for one as beautiful as you." Vincent was haunted in life by the love of a woman he could not have because of her social status, the harshness of those living around him calling him strange and crazy, and the inability to sell his work. During his 37 years of life, Vincent Van Gogh painted hundreds of paintings, but only sold one for 400 francs. And he was haunted by that. The author did a fantastic job of getting us inside his head and experiencing, yes experiencing the world as Vincent saw it. The most incredible thing is that when he died, the world did not yet realize the enormity of the loss in Vincent. Vincent gave us a foreshadowing of how his story was to end when he said, "I don't know how much longer I can do this, Rachel. Sometimes I know exactly what I want and feel I can do it forever, other times I think it will be the death of me. But I can't stop. I can do without everything else - money, people, even God - but I can't do without my painting. Even if someday it kills me." Though we will never know why Vincent suffered and what drove him to take his life, one thing is for sure, he will live on forever in the beauty of his life's work.