Johanna [Hardcover]

Claire Cooperstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 5, 1995

With its wonderfully authentic atmosphere, rich detail, and winning heroine, Johanna, an impressively researched historical novel about the sister-in-law of Vincent van Gogh, is an inspiring, tragic work. Cooperstein weaves a compelling epistolary novel made up of real and imagined characters and fictional excerpts from Johanna's diary.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dedicated to "all the women whose accomplishments have been forgotten," this assemblage of letters and journal excerpts, nearly all of them fictional, tells the story of Johanna Bonger-van Gogh, the young widow who preserved and promoted the legacy left by her brother-in-law, Vincent van Gogh. Anticipating a Christmas season filled with the gala celebration of her betrothal to Theo van Gogh, Johanna is dismayed when her fiance rushes to Arles to be with his brother, who has just cut off his ear. Though Johanna doesn't yet realize it, a sinister pattern has been established in which every important event in her marriage (from engagement through childbirth) will be mirrored by a desperate, anguished action on Vincent's part. Six months after the painter's suicide, Theo, in the final stages of syphilis, dies in an insane asylum, leaving Johanna with only limited resources (besides an attic full of van Goghs classified by others as "minor household decorations") with which to support their children. Refusing to return to her parents' home, the staunchly independent Johanna runs a boarding house, gets involved with Holland's nascent feminist movement, remarries and nearly single-handedly brings Vincent's artwork the recognition it deserves. As well as fleshing out the life of a hitherto obscure woman, Cooperstein does a fine job of conveying the giddy thrill of a world on the brink of modernism. At times, her apparent desire to educate interrupts narrative flow, as when Johanna declares in her journal, "Naturally, I can't discuss brothels with Father, even though Holland's have been government-regulated for years." But these glitches detract little from this inspiring, often exhilarating account of a woman coping with adversity and going on to create a rich and satisfying life for herself.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA?Johanna Bonger van Gogh was the sister-in-law of Vincent and wife of Theo. She dearly loved her husband and so accepted the strange and often violent behavior of his brother. Vincent continually upset their lives with his demands upon Theo, who was his gallery manager as well as his most vigorous advocate. When Vincent died, Theo suffered a mental collapse from which he never recovered. Johanna was left as a young widow with a young son, little money, and a collection of her brother-in-law's paintings that her father suggested she sell for firewood. She devoted her life to gaining recognition for Vincent's genius and the Impressionist movement. According to the author, Vincent van Gogh would have remained an obscure, unknown artist if not for his sister-in-law. She also became an activist for Holland's feminists. Written in the form of diary entries and letters, Johanna is a fast-paced, informative, and riveting fictionalized account of the thriving Paris art scene and the personalities who inhabited it. Reading it is guaranteed to send YA readers off to find more information on the van Gogh family.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Middle School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (June 5, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684802341
• ISBN-13: 978-0684802343
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy tribute to a remarkable woman, November 23, 2000

By 

David Brooks (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Johanna (Hardcover)

A very entertaining book which focuses on the true "unsung hero" of the Van Gogh saga: Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Theo's wife. Cooperstein has done a very good job of researching Johanna's story as well as Dutch life at the turn of the century. Cooperstein tells her tale through a series of fictionalized letters and private journal entries. The result is often moving and quite effective (when Johanna writes, for example, "the brother who ruined my life has become my life."). What's particularly surprising is that the author wrote this book five years before the publication of the 101 existing letters between Johanna and Theo, "Brief Happiness: The Correspondence of Theo Van Gogh and Jo Bonger". Remarkably, the "voice" that Cooperstein has given Johanna is quite close that found within her actual letters.

The book falters from time to time, particularly with the sexual references which seem out of place and contrived. Johanna's final resignation to Vincent is also a bit disappointing. But an excellent exploration, nonetheless, of the admirable life of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, August 23, 2002

By 

BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johanna (Hardcover)

I loved this book, but then again I am a sucker for epistolary novels and books about Van Gogh. In my opinion, Cooperstein did terrific research on the life of Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, the wife of Van Gogh's brother, Theo, and on the life and times of Vincent Van Gogh at the turn of the century. The details in the book lent great authenticity to this novel. The author reveals what happened to Van Gogh's works after his death, and the effect he had on those whom he left behind.

Many of Van Gogh's works and much of his correspondence were preserved or rescued by Johanna, who was determined to make sure that Vincent's lifework was appreciated and valued in an art world which considered it worthless. She was quite a woman and realized, early-on, the magnitude of what was at stake.

Although this book is fiction, I loved the portrait the author presented of this dynamic, independent woman. Without her determined efforts, the world might have lost much of Van Gogh's work as well as his letters and journals. What a loss that would have been.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great job!, February 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Johanna (Hardcover)

This book is really a good work if you're interested on Vincent van Gogh. It lets you know about what happened after Vincent: you may know about how the paintings were done, but here you will find out how did they become known to the public, how the "Vincent legend" got through all the obstacles to be what it is today. You will find also what happened to Theo van Gogh after Vincent's death, and that it wasn't him that made all the work to promote his art, but his wife, Johanna (to whom the book is devoted). Claire Cooperstein did a really great job by putting together a story by using only letters and entries on Jo's diary, (a fact that discouraged me when I first saw the book, but left me more than satisfied). They're not real, they're "faction", but this is the kind of "faction" that made books like Irving Stone's "Lust for Life" a great and illustrative read. This one's really worth it.