Fresh Words Daily

The story is set in Arles from 1888-1890.  In these two years Vincent Van Gogh painted some of his most startling pieces and broke out of the traditional style into wild colourful work.  It is during this time that he is supposed to have met a prostitute who became his lover yet managed to continue with her calling as well as being his mistress.  Although the reference to the art is true and very well researched the relationship between the artist and the young woman form the brothel is pure imagination on the part of the author.    You know when the story opens that there will not be a happy outcome and that doom sits on the shoulder of Vincent and Rachel. The historical parts of the book are well researched and the author has used much from the correspondence between Vincent and his brother Theo.  It has become somewhat of a fashion to take an artist and create a life around them.  Tracy Chevalier did it with Vermeer very successfully.  I don’t think Bundrick is quite so successful.  The relationship between Van Gogh and Rachel is not as well drawn as the narrative about the art. The picture of the brothel as a happy home for hookers is a bit hard to accept. It is interesting to look at Van Gogh’s paintings at this period of time at Arles.  The book makes the point that Van Gogh was madly creative but not madly insane and that he probably suffered from epilepsy.