Published in 2022
356 pages
Marta Molnar is the author of the dual-timeline women’s fiction novel The Secret Life Of Sunflowers about Vincent van Gogh’s inspirational sister-in-law Johanna Bonger. Marta is an avid art history enthusiast and a self-taught artist. She studied writing at Seton Hill University and Harvard University, lived around the world, then settled down in the Northeast United States where she currently writes in her version of Monet’s garden.
What is this book about?
“This book draws all the emotions out of you. I went from tears to snorting with laughter. It was both lighthearted and heart breaking, yet it inspires me to live my best life! ” Michelle Cox
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother’s diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn’t her grandmother’s. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law.
Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. They were all she had, and they weren’t worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent’s legacy to the world.
The inspiration couldn’t come at a better time for Emsley. With her business failing, an unexpected love turning up in her life, and family secrets unraveling, can she find answers in the past?
“This book was so much more than I had expected, and I had high expectations… one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read in years.” Kaela Stokes
“It touched something in my soul.” Audrey McDonald