Donna Russo

Highly recommend this book. It was well researched and well written. Ms. Russo, the author, recreated events in Van Gogh's life through letters and other material. She described the heartbreaks Van Gogh underwent even from the time of his birth as he took on the name Vincent from a previously deceased brother. It appears from the book that his mother never nurtured him and this fact seemed to color all his relationships for the rest of his life. Ms. Russo describes Van Gogh's loving relationship with his brother Theo who supported him throughout his life financially and emotionally. There were a series of women Van Gogh encountered through his life but he was never able to have a meaningful relationship with them because of his lack of nurturance as a child.
There is a lot to learn in reading this book about the loneliness and heartbreak Van Gogh endured despite his creating of beautiful art that has been loved by all even to this day.… (meer)

I have had some time thinking about the book before I wrote this review and I think although it's a good book, would I have preferred to have read the previous book first. Now, I don't mean that it was hard to get into the story in this book, it's more like the mentioning of events from the first book made me curious about that book, to get the past stories behind all the characters. And, reading the first book would have made it easier to understand the characters, instead of learning during the books progress more about them.

Nevertheless, despite my lack of previous knowledge did I enjoy this book. I find the era fascinating and one thing I truly loved was reading a book about Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, it's a story about da Vinci's disciples, but I can't help being fascinated by the man and I loved that his POV was included in the book. I was also intrigued by Lorenzo de Medici. I really need to find more books about both men to read.

Anyway, besides that was it the women's struggles to be accepted as artists the thing that I found absolute fascinated to read about. It's OK for a woman to draw at home, but to be an artist? Nah, that's just for men. Made my blood boil I tell ya when I read some parts of the books when they were found out and had to take the public's scorn.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy from NetGalley for an honest review!… (meer)