Overview

On May 20, 1890, the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, perhaps the most innovative painter of his time, arrived in Auvers-sur-Oise, a rural village a few miles north of Paris. Having just ended his stay at the asylum in Provence, free of the dark cloud of alcohol, he was at the apex of his artistic powers and filled with optimism for the future. He fell in love with the picturesque village and was confident that the physician whom his brother, Theo, had engaged to monitor his health, would be a congenial friend. Dr. Paul Gachet, a homeopathic physician and amateur artist, was well known in the art world as a benefactor and enthusiast of the newest trends in French painting. Taken under the good doctor's wing, a frequent guest in his home, the artist not only enjoyed a burst of creativity but also found love in the person of Marguerite, Gachet's 21-year-old daughter. The idyl came to a sudden end on July 29, when Vincent died, it is widely believed today, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. However, questions have persisted. Why was no gun ever found? Why did he choose to shoot himself in the abdomen rather than the head? Why, if he had been intent upon taking his life, would he have staggered back to the inn where he was staying and begged for assistance? Afterwards, Marguerite never married but spent the rest of her life a virtual recluse, dressed in mourning, tended her beloved's grave, and claimed to acquaintances that she and Vincent had been engaged. In this lyrical and emotional novel, author Jerrine Wire offers a solution to the mystery through the imagined private diary of Marguerite Gachet, which chronicles this most prolific period in Van Gogh's life including the true story of its tragic end.

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9781977280855

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A native of Philadelphia, author Jerrine Wire resides on Cape Cod, spends the winter in Sonoma County, California, and travels regularly to Europe and Japan. In her life she has been an art student, an artist's model, a single mother, a teacher of macrobiotic cooking, a caterer, an acupuncturist, a spiritualist, and a health food retailer. With her husband of nearly five decades, she is now the co-owner of a successful import business, yet still finds time to write, paint, cook, and garden.

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