Sunflowers

Sheramy Bundrick's first novel based on art history is a gem of a book. "Sunflowers" is the story of Vincent Van Gogh's last 2 years of life as seen through the eyes of his Arlesienne prostitute lover, Rachel Courtreau. Ms. Bundrick, an art historian at a Florida University, has taken the facts of Van Gogh's tortured life and woven them with beautiful descriptions of the time, place and people he painted. As if this information wasn't enough to base her novel on, Ms. Bundrick takes us inside the artist's head through his "imagined but possible" conversations with M. Roulin, Dr's Rey and Peyron, M. Trabuc, and others who featured in Van Gogh's brightly colored canvases. What caused Van Gogh's madness??? Was he bi-polar? Did he suffer from epilepsy? Did he feel the constant pressure to paint and be understood like all artists do?One can only imagine.... Rachel's part as Van Gogh's love interest, serves a dual purpose of "setting the scene". Through her story, we see the beautiful colors of the South of France, the artist's process, the weather, the festivals, the town of Arles as Van Gogh would have seen it, and what a woman's life was like if and when fate intervened. A great way to enjoy this book even further would be to have an art book on hand that features Van Gogh's paintings.

Sunflowers is a rich novel of historical fiction that combines in-depth factual research with a vivid portrayal of Vincent van Gogh's world. The novel is told in first person through the eyes of Rachel, a young woman who suffers great misfortune and turns to brothel work to survive. A naive girl and innocent at heart, Rachel is deeply moved by van Gogh's artistry. She sees past his erratic moodiness into the heart of his gift, and slowly falls in love with him. He too falls in love with her, but that love competes with his passion for his art and weakness from his illness. Sunflowers tells the story of how these two unique souls make their way through the world, both together and individually. While the story moves slowly, there is a great deal of information, detail and emotion to absorb. As I reached the climax of the novel, I could not help but cry at its poignancy. A wonderful read that you won't want to miss. I am the author of WATERMARK: A NOVEL OF THE MIDDLE AGES, due out from Avon A in April 2010

When I heard about the book Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick I knew that I had to read it. I am a fan of historical fiction novels and am familiar with Vincent Van Gogh's work. The beautiful cover of Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflower painting is eye catching and stunning. It is an integral part of the story and connects the characters deeply. I was most familiar with the story of Vincent Van Gogh's cutting his ear off for love and his questionable mental status. I was also familiar with his brilliance as an artist and especially with paintings such as Starry Night. Sunflowers is told in the first person perspective of Rachel, a young girl whose parents had died and her only option was to live with her spinster aunt. Instead, she ended up on a train to Arles, France and forced into the life of prostitutution. Rachel develops a friendship with Van Gogh after she finds him sketching her when she seeks refuge from the brothel in a public garden. Their friendship quickly turns into love and romance. Rachel, unrealistically believes she can eventually marry Van Gogh her customer and lover and leave the brothel. There is a deep connection between Rachel and Vincent but his madness interferes. He is frequently hospitalized and then moves away from Arles and Rachel to be near his brother in Paris. I liked how the author used letters between Vincent and Rachel when he left Arles as a way to continue the first person perspective and add in Vincent's perspective. Rachel has many moments of naivete and obsessiveness towards Vincent that was at times annoying. She was deeply in love and dedicated to Vincent and he was the only person she felt connected to since she lost her parents. He became the main focus of her life. I think that most who are familiar with the history of Vincent Van Gogh's life know the tragic end it takes. I knew this and when I got to that part in the story it touched me deeply as I was rooting for Rachel and Vincent to have more happiness in their tragic lives. I found myself wanting to research the artwork that Ms. Bundrick refers to in each chapter. The author has a reference at the back of the book that listed the paintings referred to in each chapter. I could go online and view the paintings as well which made me feel more connected to the story. The Vincent Van Gogh Gallery was a wonderful resource. This is a debut novel for Sheramy Bundrick who is an art historian and professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Her passion for art and the artist is evident in her writing and style. There is also very strong character development in Sunflowers and I like how the author took factual information about Vincent Van Gogh's life and added the fictional elements. I look forward to more books by Ms. Bundrick and hope that she continues on her journey of writing Historical fiction related to art and artists. This would make an excellent book to discuss with a book club as there is so much to discuss including the meaning of

In 1888 in Arles, France, prostitute Rachel Courteau takes a needed time out from her brothel life that she embraced out of necessity when her parents died. She hides in a garden from the nasty cracks of the good citizens, but soon falls asleep. She is awakened by a thirty something red haired male who has secretly sketched her nap. Rachel assumes her visitor, the crazed artist Vincent Van Gogh is another client. He arranges a tryst but brings with him wildflowers. He begs her to let him paint her instead of sleeping with her as she expected. As their relationship blossoms in spite of his increasing bouts madness, she meets his friend Gauguin while wondering if she can ever be free of being a fille de maison as increasingly she believes it will not be with Van Gogh consumed by his lunacy. Rachel is the key to this terrific look at the life of Van Gogh as she brings freshness to the artist and the period. As Sheramy Bundrick notes in her afterward, there is little known about the real Rachel so the author took liberties with her, but tried to remain true to what is considered factual about Van Gogh; she succeeds. Fans of historical biographical fiction will want to read SUNFLOWERS, as art professor Sheramy Bundrick captures the essence of Vincent Van Gogh's Lust for Life (by Irving Stone) through Rachel's first person perceptions of the artist and his work especially SUNFLOWERS. Harriet Klausner

Rachel, the young woman who narrates this tender novel, makes her living in a brothel where she has landed through bad fortune. First meeting the 35-year-old Vincent van Gogh as a customer in their town of Arles in the south of France, she soon begins to fall in love with this moody, sometimes sickly and brilliantly gifted man. He needs and loves her but is obsessed by his work, hasn't a penny and is supported by his brother; it is also unlikely that his good middle-class family will accept her. Even as they promise to marry each other and somehow make a life together, he begins his periodic collapses and intermittent weeks and months of madness which force him into a hospital where she often cannot even see him. Eventually his brother moves him far away near Paris, and still their passionate letters and hopes continue. It is interesting that within the pages of SUNFLOWERS, it is first Van Gogh whose brilliant if erratic light shines over all the chapters like the sun over fields at midday and slowly, as the book progresses, Rachel emerges more as a person until you finally see that though he is the genius, she is the stronger one and the one who will actively struggle to make a life for both of them even with his bouts of madness. When he collapses, she goes on; when he can decide nothing, she makes plans as she can. Still, without money and with his brother deciding Vincent's course and mostly with Vincent retreating again and again, Rachel's struggle is momentous. The final chapters (I will not divulge them here) were particularly moving to me. It made me want to read it all again. Anyone who loves novels about artists and the passion to create should read this book. I am the author of MARRYING MOZART and CLAUDE AND CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF MONET (April 2010).