The Last Van Gogh [Paperback]

Alyson Richman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2006

Summer, 1890. Van Gogh arrives at Auvers-sur-Oise, a bucolic French village that lures city artists to the country. It is here that twenty-year-old Maurguerite Gachet has grown up, attending to her father and brother ever since her mother's death. And it is here that Vincent Van Gogh will spend his last summer, under the care of Doctor Gachet - homeopathic doctor, dilettante painter, and collector. In these last days of his life, Van Gogh will create over 70 paintings, two of them portraits of Marguerite Gachet. But little does he know that, while capturing Marguerite and her garden on canvas, he will also capture her heart.

Both a love story and historical novel, The Last Van Gogh recreates the final months of Vincent's life - and the tragic relationship between a young girl brimming with hope and an artist teetering on despair.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Richman (The Mask Carver's Son; Swedish Tango) speculates in her third novel that Vincent Van Gogh found his muse in the 21-year-old daughter of his last doctor. Marguerite Gachet, accustomed to her father's revolving door of artist patients (Cezanne, Pissarro, Bernard among them), finds herself enamored of the disheveled Van Gogh ("a rare blend of vulnerability and bravado") shortly after his arrival at her father's home in Auvers, where Van Gogh undergoes treatment for his manifold illnesses. Though Marguerite is little more than a servant to her father, a failed painter turned physician who prides himself to an absurd extent on his art collection, she manages, with the help of her cloistered half-sister, to begin a covert flirtation with Van Gogh. Between sitting—thrice—for Van Gogh and carrying on her household duties, Marguerite uncovers a family secret and has a clandestine rendezvous with the painter. Though Marguerite's frustrated love is carefully rendered, other characters are mostly memorable for their quirks (her father, the failed painter; her brother, the goofy sycophant; her half-sister, the gold-hearted sage). The climax may be a bit breathless, but, then again, Van Gogh isn't remembered for his subtlety. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Vincent van Gogh ends his life in a French village under the care of Dr. Gachet, who treats his patients and himself with holistic concoctions of herbs. Gachet's daughter, Marguerite, lives a circumscribed life of domestic duties in a rather peculiar household. She finds joy in her garden and her music and, upon the arrival of Van Gogh, the excitement that his presence brings. To her father's dismay, she is the one the painter seeks as a model, rather than her more favored brother. Marguerite serves as narrator, and though unschooled and naive, her passion and clarity shine through. She finds love, but it is not destined for a happy ending. Marguerite does achieve a sort of immortality through Van Gogh's portraits of her, but except for the secret that she holds close, her life is lonely and bereft. Richman captures the flavor of the period and the nature of her characters in a story that will appeal to many. Danise Hoover
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042521267X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425212677
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Imressionable, October 16, 2006

By 

Erminia Mcccready "Ava D. Reader" (JH NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Van Gogh (Paperback)

I might have had a slight curiosity about the Post Impressionist painter that cut off his ear. But reading this historical novel peaked my interest. Ms. Richman's writing got me so caught up in the story that I found my self looking up every painting mentioned. I even went as far as to try and match specific descriptive passages to specific paintings, drawings, etc. The description of Mr. Van Gogh's suffering and his need to complete each painting was made so real to me. This novel has left a lasting impression.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars , November 3, 2006

By 

Gustav Seliger (NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Van Gogh (Paperback)

The Last Van Gogh, is a compelling, visually powerful , and beautifully written novel of the last two months of Vincent Van Gogh's life which he spent in Auvers ,while being treated by Dr. Gachet, a homeopathic physician of dubious reputation. It is a work of historical fiction about the strange Gachet household . During this time Van Gogh painted many of his finest paintings and Ms. Richman's vivid description of the brush stokes and colors of these paintings made me want to immediately view them. The doomed short love affair of the very ill artist with Marguerite Gachet is riveting and tragic .. I highly reccomend it.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GORGEOUS, HAUNTING TALE, A+++++++, January 27, 2007

By 

John G. Comas "Amazon user" (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Van Gogh (Paperback)

Alyson Richman has clearly figured out what the ideal mixture is for a transcendent book.

Begin with a fascinating historical subject, add equal parts impeccable research and a gorgeous love story, and mix all of that together with brilliant writing and, viola, you will wind up with The Last Van Gogh.

The story details Vincent Van Gogh's days at Auvers while under the care of Dr. Paul Gachet. The tale is told through the eyes of Gachet's daughter, Marguerite, with whom Richman speculates Van Gogh had a love affair with while he was adding the final pieces of art work to his oeuvre.

This clandestine affair is genuinely affecting, as it was deeply passionate and one that gave Margerite her only taste of true love. However, as with anything to do with Van Gogh, it was ultimately doomed. Along the way, Marguerite will experience the joys and sorrows of love and the reader will experience them with her with a great deal of empathy.

The story is narrated in vivid detail, capturing the essence of France in the 19th Century perfectly and making the reader feel not as if he's reading a book, but as if he's actually in Auvers watching the action as it unfolds. The love affair plays out in an extremely suspenseful fashion, allowing for a book that nearly turns its own pages. As I tore through the novel's final 50 pages, feeling as breathless as the story's protagonist, I realized, upon completion, that this was a story which would stay with me for many years to come. I am already looking forward to rereading it.

Truly, this is Richman's best work to date and one of the best books I have read in years. It is a book you can recommend to anyone who can understand the written word and, while I utter this with a bit of hyperbole, is a book worth learning to read for.