Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Leaving Van Gogh

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 573 ratings · 164 reviews

In the summer of 1890, in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died two days later, at the age of thirty-seven, largely unknown despite having completed over two thousand works of art that would go on to become some of the most important and valued in the world.

In this riveting novel, Carol Wallace brilliantly...more

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published April 19th 2011 by Spiegel & Grau (first published April 5th 2011)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

The "Can't Wait" Books of 2011

334th out of 627 books — 1,913 voters

What Should I Read in 2011?

498th out of 564 books — 750 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,451)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 15, 2012 Ms.pegasus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: art lovers

Shelves: fiction, art-history

Author Carol Wallace tackles a tough literary project, creating a fictional work about famed artist Vincent Van Gogh in the final year of his life. Readers will already have formed preconceptions about the artist. Integrating her own viewpoint with a core of historical accuracy, and expressing this through fictional conversations and thoughts is not an easy task. Wallace applies several ingenious approaches to the problem.

The story is narrated through the eyes of Dr. Paul Gachet, a physician wit...more Author Carol Wallace tackles a tough literary project, creating a fictional work about famed artist Vincent Van Gogh in the final year of his life. Readers will already have formed preconceptions about the artist. Integrating her own viewpoint with a core of historical accuracy, and expressing this through fictional conversations and thoughts is not an easy task. Wallace applies several ingenious approaches to the problem.

The story is narrated through the eyes of Dr. Paul Gachet, a physician with strong interest in both the art world, and mental disorders. Gachet is an old man reminiscing about not only Van Gogh, who died 15 years previously, but his long life, which paralleled the revolution of Impressionism and and the dawn of modern medicine (he lived from 1828-1909). Van Gogh died in 1890. Louis Pasteur was developing his theories of bacterial immunization in the 1870's. Dr. Gachet is most well-known as the subject of two portraits by Van Gogh. In addition, is daughter Marguerite, is the subject of a portrait as well. Viewed apart from Van Gogh, Dr. Gachet was an interesting figure. He was painted by Cezanne, and the Salon painter Armand Gauthier, and collected a huge trove of Impressionist paintings, given to him either as gifts, or payment for his services. His additional interests ranged from homeopathy to creating etchings.

We are able to view Van Gogh through Gachet's eyes. An almost manic-depressive cycle unfolds with Van Gogh able to voice, even towards the end, moments of lucidity about his emotional unraveling, violent episodes, black-outs, and feelings of despair over his helplessness. At the same time, there is an overriding sense of ambiguity. Gachet labels the artist as monomaniacal and delusional. He is therefore surprised when he learns Van Gogh has also been observing him – with startling insight. In one reverie, Gachet notes: “...I have wondered, in the years since then, whether Vincent perceived the people he knew as individuals. He had a great love for humankind.... What he did not seem to feel was the suffering of the particular human beings around him.” Did his art stem from being disengaged from reality or from a deeper engagement with a higher, more permanent reality?

Gachet questions the accuracy of his observations, against the background of his own troubled emotional state, due in part to the early death of his wife Blanche from tuberculosis. Thus, the novel is able to play with the many speculations about Van Gogh that remain active even to this day.

Particularly in Van Gogh's portraits, we see a perplexing combination of emotional engagement and formal exploration through the energetic, almost sculptural brushwork, the very particular poses he selects for his subjects and the deft and daring use of color. One of the delights of this sort of book is that it will compel the reader to re-examine Van Gogh's art – particularly the paintings of that final year. I can recommend a couple of websites of particular value: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/in_his_... offers side-by-side comparisons between Van Gogh's paintings, and photographs of the same scenes. This comparison highlights the brilliant use of color and compositional precision of the paintings. http://www.tfsimon.com/auvers-sur-ois... offers an extensive collection of the Auvers paintings, including the primary ones mentioned in the book: Portraits of Dr. Gachet, Marguerite, the art dealer Pere Tanguy, and Adeline Ravoux, the daughter of Van Gogh's landlord.

LEAVING VAN GOGH is a meditation on death, as the title suggests. The death of Dr. Gachet's wife, Theo Van Gogh's impending death from syphilis, and Gachet's own end of life thoughts intertwine with Van Gogh's inevitable suicide. Marguerite's world seems somehow claustrophobic with its overly sheltered conventions of feminine behavior. There is even a note of prescient regret about the fate of Dr. Gachet's children. Marguerite never marries, and Paul remains a rootless entity on the periphery of the art world. Perhaps this is the reason I cannot give a higher rating to the book. Devoid of the more traditional fictional devices, the book serves as a somber backdrop to the mysterious intensity of Van Gogh's work. As for the fictional narrative, there is a pervasive but very human sense of sadness.
(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 14, 2012 Jacqie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I didn't know much about Van Gogh and didn't care to learn more until I read this book. All I had known about him was the ear story. This book brings Van Gogh to the reader from the perspective of a doctor who specialized in mental illness and who was also an art lover. Apparently this man actually existed- at least someone with that name did. We see Van Gogh as a man who can _see_ things, who has a love for color, and for whom painting is the only reason to live.
I've learned a bit about the hi...more

like · see review

Jul 08, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I absolutely loved this book!

I picked it up after I had watched a nice documentary about Van Gogh the other month and falling in love with the song Vincent just a few days before. Saw this book at the library and figured it was some sort of sign and checked out the first page.

Right from the start it hooked me: Dr. Gachet, sad, looking at Vincent's skull after his body had been exhumed to be moved to it's permanent location.

I'd heard some people complain about it being a bit boring and wordy and...more

like · see review

Aug 20, 2011 Eva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, featuring-real-people, poignant, read-in-2011

Van Gogh has always been a very intriguing painter for me. His works are filled with such vibrant colors and assured strokes while also evoking an incredible amount of emotion that it's hard to imagine him struggling with crippling bouts of madness. Wallace explores this dichotomy through the friendship of Vincent Van Gogh and Dr Gachet which emerged during the last year of Van Gogh's life.

Through Gachet we don't completely understand Van Gogh but can at least imagine the despair of being mad an...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Ellen O'brien rated it 4 of 5 stars

This would make a very good book club book, especially if an art history teacher were part of the discussion. As I read it, I kept getting up to look up more of van Gogh's paintings and drawing to better appreciate the wonderful descriptions of his work. I had known that Van Gogh committed suicide but I didn't realize that he died before he achieved any significant recognition as the fabulous artist he was. The narrator of this story is a French doctor who specializes in treating mental illness....more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 13, 2011 Penny rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an interesting book. I chose it because I love art and I am always interested in the artists who create the art I love. I have always thought Van Gogh to be an tragic and fascinating human being.

This book is a fictionalized account of the end of his life told from the perspective of the real man who became his doctor and friend and who was also an artist. I liked the perspective because the reader gets to see Van Gogh and other artists as real people interacting with other people.

I real...more

4 likes · like · see review

May 21, 2011 Patty rated it 5 of 5 stars

Where to begin? This book captured my heart from its first pages and it still hasn't let go. Vincent van Gogh was a man of supreme artistic brilliance but a true lost soul when it came to living in the real world. Without the undying support of his brother Theo we might never have known the beauty of his Sunflowers or the glory of his Starry Night. His works were a passion of mine as I studied art history and they remain amongst my favorite pieces of art.

Ms. Wallace imagines the last months of v...more

1 like · like · see review

May 18, 2011 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Art Lovers

Recommended to Beth by: LibraryThing.com

This book pays homage to one of my favorite artist’s, Vincent Van Gogh. “Leaving Van Gogh”, takes place during the last year of Van Gogh’s life and revolves around his connection with Dr. Gachet and Van Gogh’s brother, Theo. The author, Carol Wallace, successfully captured the heart of this illustrious painter by portraying the artist’s love for painting against the demons he struggled with throughout his life. Van Gogh’s final months and his paintings are described through the eyes of Dr.Gachet...more

like · see review

May 06, 2011 J.M. Cornwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Poignant and sad fantasy of Vincent Van Gogh’s last days.

It may have been Dr. Gachet’s painting or simply his name in conjunction with another painter that sparked Carol Wallace’s interest in Vincent Van Gogh’s last months in bucolic Auvers, but Dr. Gachet is imagined into existence. All of this seems to come from Van Gogh’s portrait of the psychiatrist who unofficially treated him.

Much about Van Gogh’s life is known and has been fully chronicled. Wallace gives depth and weight to the quiet da...more Poignant and sad fantasy of Vincent Van Gogh’s last days.

It may have been Dr. Gachet’s painting or simply his name in conjunction with another painter that sparked Carol Wallace’s interest in Vincent Van Gogh’s last months in bucolic Auvers, but Dr. Gachet is imagined into existence. All of this seems to come from Van Gogh’s portrait of the psychiatrist who unofficially treated him.

Much about Van Gogh’s life is known and has been fully chronicled. Wallace gives depth and weight to the quiet days that dwindled down into his suicide and protracted death. The possibility that anyone other than Van Gogh’s family could care so much for him lends a size and shape to his sad life.

Wallace begins with Dr. Gachet and Theo Van Gogh’s request that the doctor agree to treat his brother, who has just come out of the asylum. Dr. Gachet was the best choice since the doctor had treated other artists and was an artist himself, or so it seemed. By opening up Dr. Gachet’s family life and his relationships with various forms of madness, Wallace sets a course that leads unerringly to Van Gogh’s death.

By incorporating passages from Van Gogh’s letters and the doctor’s reactions to his paintings and style, each detail shines an oblique light on the artist and the man who befriended and treated him. Van Gogh saw Dr. Gachet as damaged goods, an artist blind leading the blind when it came to treatment and possible cure. Wallace also shows that the doctor is observant and unerring in his diagnoses of Theo and Vincent while pointing up Dr. Gachet’s inability to help either one.

Although Leaving Van Gogh is a quiet novel full of little details and subtle insights, Wallace uses anecdotal history and personal letters to fill in the blanks between the lines history has left blank. Van Gogh emerges as an erratic man with a clear and overwhelming mission to render the landscapes of the outer world into a coherent and disturbing portrait of sadness and inevitable death that elevates this small corner of artist history in soft contrast to the bold brilliance of Vincent’s inner demons.

Leaving Van Gogh is a small tale about towering genius with an existential crisis at its sad heart.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 04, 2011 Georgesear rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fictionalized account of the relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and Dr. Paul Gachet, during the last months of Van Gogh's life in Auvers, France. A widower, Dr. Gachet and his children lived near Van Gogh in Auvers and were actually subjects he painted. The author uses Van Gogh family correspondence and other first hand sources to paint a moving portrait of Van Gogh's struggles with mental illness, as well as his genius. To this day, it is not known where Van Gogh obtained the gun he used t...more

like · see review

May 26, 2011 Dionisia rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Dionisia by: Goodreads Giveaway

Shelves: first-reads, advance-reading-copy, alt-cover, historical-fiction, fiction, own, psychological-fiction, biographical-novels, europe, art

I was really looking forward to the arrival of this book. After all, sad books need love too! I even loved the first lines...

"I held Vincent's skull in my hands. It was a strange and melancholy moment."

...but my love faltered midway through the reading. As the story dragged on I found it harder and harder to pick the book back up. It was so promising! I knew it wasn't going to be barrels of sunshine, but I never expected it to be boring. Le sigh.

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 26, 2011 Diana Renn rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a mesmerizing account of Vincent van Gogh's final days, told from the perspective of Dr. Gachet, who befriended van Gogh and collected his works (and who was the subject of one of van Gogh's most famous portraits). Descriptions of van Gogh's paintings -- and his artistic process -- are beautifully rendered; you can almost smell the paint coming off the pages. Readers who know little about van Gogh's life, or who may think of him as a mad genius, will gain a great deal of insight into the...more

like · see review

Oct 10, 2011 Dvora rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: france

I really liked this book although I also found some things that I did not like. I feel a very strong affection for Vincent Van Gogh the painter and especially for the man. I see him as a genius and a very sympathetic human being.

I liked that for the most part Wallace didn't employ melodrama in her story. After all, Vincent's story is dramatic enough without embellishment. But at the end she did resort to melodrama. The last few chapters, talking about Gachet's dilemma over how to help his friend...more

like · see review

Sep 22, 2011 Terri Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama-fiction, history, art-theater-film-ballet-symphony

This book was beautifully written and pulled me forward, not ever wanting to stop. I am passionate about art and love reading books about artists. Though this book is a work of fiction, it is based on true facts.

We see Vincent Van Gogh through the eyes of his doctor and friend Dr. Gachet, a widower with two children Marguerite and Paul and a bossy housekeeper who has largely raised them. He lives out in the country in Auvers, France and practices medicine, specializing in mental disorders, in P...more This book was beautifully written and pulled me forward, not ever wanting to stop. I am passionate about art and love reading books about artists. Though this book is a work of fiction, it is based on true facts.

We see Vincent Van Gogh through the eyes of his doctor and friend Dr. Gachet, a widower with two children Marguerite and Paul and a bossy housekeeper who has largely raised them. He lives out in the country in Auvers, France and practices medicine, specializing in mental disorders, in Paris several days a week. He fancies himself an artist and has many artist friends including Cezanne, Pissarro, Monet, and Renoir.

This is why Vincent's brother Theo Van Gogh asks him to look after Vincent. The doctor grows to almost worship Vincent as do his two children. Vincent is a kind person who loves humanity, animals, and art but he suffers from epilepsy and hysteria. He is TOO sensitive and tries to fend off madness with his painting.

This story is so refreshing and lovely and so well-done. The doctor realizes that Theo has syphilis in an age when there was no treatment. As Theo grows worse, so does Vincent who worries that if his brother died he will not have anyone to financially support him and worries about Theo's wife Johanna and baby son Vincent.

Dr. Gachet's wife suffered intensely when she died from consumption. She had pleaded with him to ease her passing and he refused. When he sees that Vincent will have no future as he has lost his ability to paint and when Theo dies, he will wind up in an insane asylum, he must make a terrible decision. You'll need to read this to find out what that was.

I have to say that I found Dr. Gachet to be a character I didn't like. At one point, his son Paul got injured and instead of sympathy, he humiliated the boy in front of others. I don't like to see children mistreated. Also, the family had a sweet Newfoundland dog who wanted love and affection. Paul took the dog walking up to where Vincent was painting in a field and the excited pet accidentally brushed against the newly painted canvas and ruined the painting. When Dr. Gachet found out, he called the dog names and said he was going to drown him. Anyone who would harm a dog for any reason, and especially for something stupid like this, who would think a dog should be held underwater and drowned because some stupid painting got ruined, in my own dog-loving opinion, should be drowned himself and I would volunteer to do it!(less)

like · see review

Jun 01, 2011 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have mixed feelings about historical fiction, so I'll admit I bought this book because the cover was so pretty. Sure am glad I did though- my reasoning was the only shallow thing about the book. First drawn in by Dr. Gachet's own story of treating his wife and artist friends, I was captured by the vivid depiction of Vincent Van Gogh himself.
The scenes with Van Gogh are some of the most riveting I have encountered in any historical fiction novel, and truly illustrates the artist as a strugglin...more

1 like · like · see review

May 26, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

I was excited to receive this book as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program since it examines two subjects in which I'm very interested -- art history and psychology. While not intimately familiar with all of Van Gogh's history, I was lucky enough to attend an exhibit a few years ago in Chicago covering his years at his "studio of the South" with Gauguin and learned a fair amount about his background thanks to that and I was eager to learn more.

Wallace's novel, which grew out of rese...more I was excited to receive this book as part of the Library Thing Early Reviewers program since it examines two subjects in which I'm very interested -- art history and psychology. While not intimately familiar with all of Van Gogh's history, I was lucky enough to attend an exhibit a few years ago in Chicago covering his years at his "studio of the South" with Gauguin and learned a fair amount about his background thanks to that and I was eager to learn more.

Wallace's novel, which grew out of research conducted while working on her Masters in Art History, focuses on Van Gogh's final months and his relationship with Dr. Paul-Ferdinard Gachet, the physician Van Gogh's brother, Theo, sought out to treat Vincent's "mental maladies." Gachet had a keen interest in art, was himself a painter, and had befriended other notable artists of the era including Cezanne, Monet, and Pissaro. Gachet had a solid background in working with emotionally troubled patients from his work at two mental institutions and Theo Van Gogh felt he would be ideally suited to help Vincent after he left St. Remy, another French asylum.

Wallace's prose is a bit scholarly at times and I felt a little removed from the characters and the situation. I had expected to develop more of a bond with Vincent and to feel more by the end of this novel, but for some reason that didn't happen. In a way, I suppose I'm glad that was the case, because the subject matter isn't easy or pleasant to digest. I did feel Wallace did a better job of showing Gachet's deep devotion to his wife, Blanche, who died of tuberculosis prior to Van Gogh arriving on the scene. In fact, that portion of the novel is the most affecting and difficult to get through. I can appreciate that that experience is key to understanding some of Gachet's later motivations, but I feel like the section might have gone on a little too long.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am glad I had the opportunity to read it. It should appeal to those interested in art and/or psychology, but I don't know how much general appeal it will have.(less)

like · see review

May 10, 2011 Shanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Based on some historical fact, this is the story of the last days of Van Gogh. He resides in the small village of Auvers and is befriended by Dr. Gachet ( an actual person who Van Gogh once painted). Dr. Gachet struggles unsuccessfully to help Van Gogh through his mental instability and may have been instrumental in his suicide.

Doesn't sound like a meaty plot, does it? That's because it isn't. If I didn't love Van Gogh so much I would have found this one tedious in the extreme. Nothing happens...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 01, 2012 Elaine rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was thoroughly researched, especially, in two ways: the complete portrayal of the art of Van Gogh along with works by others, and the medical beliefs and treatments at that time for cases like Vincent's and his brother Theo. The art historian author was omni-present in her analyses along with Wallace as a student of medical practice as she spoke through the narration of Dr. Gachet, the real life physician who observed the mental illness of Van Gogh along with being a painter himself. Never...more

like · see review

Aug 05, 2011 Kelly Konrad added it

It's the art lover's "Loving Frank." I was surprised at how riveted I was by this book, given it moves at a rather slow pace, and you already know the ending. How much is historically accurate is unknown to me at this point, as I went in not knowing who Dr. Gachet was, but even if none of it were true, it's a poignant tale of friendship between two sad men. All I now is that now, I feel like I need to run to the Art Institute and soak in as much Van Gogh as possible. I'm haunted, too, at the sce...more

like · see review

Jul 17, 2011 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this story presented as told by Dr. Paul Gachet; a doctor specializing in mental illness and true final friend in the life of Vincent Van Gogh. The novel is narrated with such beautiful and disturbing details, I could picture the artist fervently at work and bring images of some popuar and some lesser known works to mind. The last days of Van Gogh's life are so vividly and lovingly exposed that it drove me to my own personal madness to finish the book. I feel that it is fortunat...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 21, 2011 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction

Leaving Van Gogh is a historical fictionalization of the final weeks preceding Vincent Van Gogh's suicide. He spent that time living Aurves, France and formed a good friendship with Dr. Paul Gachet, a physician that specialized in mental illness.

I had trouble getting into this book. I chose it because I love Vincent Van Gogh's paintings and wanted to learn more about him. However, he was really just a supporting character in this book. The reader never gets to know what's going in his brilliant...more

like · see review

Aug 13, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a difficult book to read, maybe because his tragic life is known. You knew there was no happy ending and were compelled to continue to watch him spiral down through the eyes of his "doctor" and friend.

"the summer of 1890, in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died two days later, at the age of thirty-seven, largely unknown despite having completed over two thousand works of art that would go on to become some of the most im...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 30, 2011 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: artists-or-art, europe, src-fall-2011

Leaving Van Gogh: A Novel was told from the point of view of Dr Gachet, a physician with an interest in both mental illness and art. After Vincent Van Gogh was released from an asylum, his brother Theo asked Dr Gachet to watch over him in Auvers where he would be painting. Dr Gachet carefully observed both Vincent and Theo for illness, but unfortunately medicine had no cure for their illnesses. Dr Gachet was a true friend to Vincent, bringing him into his home to visit and paint. I enjoyed the b...more

like · see review

Jul 01, 2011 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Pretty darn good book. I have to say I didn't know much about Van Gogh before this but now I'm more intrigued by his life. Like, did you know he never sold anything while he was alive? And that he spent multiple years in a asylums? The story is told form the point of view of the doctor who was "treating" him in the last few months of his life. Based on some fact, but most of the conversations and plot lines are fiction. I found the way people of the day viewed "madness" and classified psychologi...more

like · see review

Jan 26, 2012 Terri rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I purposely read this book slowly as I didn't want it to end ! Having an obsession and love for Van Gogh and his paintings; I typed in "Van Gogh" to find books to read on my ereader and this one popped up. This author created such an incredible feel, atomosphere, world, hmm I can't seem to find the right word. I truly felt that I was inside Van Gogh's head and Dr Gachet's head and could feel how they felt. Carol Wallace is such a wonderful wordsmith; everything flowed so naturally and wonderfull...more

like · see review

May 18, 2011 Seeuuder rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You can call me the odd duck out, but I give Wallace’s book a rating of two. Leaving Van Gogh receives one star for the subject matter and one star for motivating me to learn more about Vincent Van Gogh and Dr. Gachet. Everything else was a negative. Wallace’s first attempt to write a book for an adult audience in my view was a failure. I found the prose to be tedious and trite.

Leaving Van Gogh reads like a first draft rather than a polished work. I think her book was a good beginning for a gre

...more

like · see review

May 22, 2011 Gloria rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really had higher hopes for this book. I'm intrigued by Van Gogh, not only with his paintings, but his complex personality and life.

I felt, however, a bit left behind by this book. I think of painting as a visual art (obviously), so I found myself wading through a lot of technical aspects of painting as well as descriptions of paintings themselves-- which somehow lost something in the translation through prose.
I suppose it's rather like trying to explain to a blind person how a painting looks,...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 30, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: artist-male, 19th-century

What an enjoyable read! I'm not big on historical fiction but I liked how Wallace's writing is so visual and absorbing. I felt as though I was apart of this "changing" late 19th century society filled with avant garde artists and the mentally ill. I was most touched by the intimate relationship between Vincent & Theo.

The story is written from Dr. Gachet's perspective. Theo Van Gogh's requested that the doctor agree to treat his brother, who had just come out of the asylum. Dr. Gachet was ch...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 25, 2011 Marcus rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was easy being brought into this world of art and medicine. Examining how city life is both dynamic and dangerous to live and how perception of our world shapes both ourselves and those we are in contact with. It was not so hard to believe that the artist, whose work was unappreciated in the art community, was somehow embraced and understood by the doctor who had an insight to mental maladies. Van Gogh paints the melancholy of the Doctor and the doctor opens up to explain his personal life an...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2013 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: talbot-library-night-discussion, 2013

The story of the final days of Vincent Van Gogh is told in this novel of blended history and fiction. The author does an exceptional job of recreating the warmth, love and ultimate sadness shared by the Van Gogh brothers, Theo's wife Johanna and Dr. Gachet ( the Auvers physician who tried to treat Van Gogh mental problems) and his family during the heartbreaking last days of the brilliant artist's life. Her description of the locales and French life at that time is equally exceptional, creating...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 48 49 next »

Art

12 users

Book Club

5 users

Art > Art History

4 users

Cultural > France

4 users

Literature > 19th Century

3 users

Novels

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Carol Wallace

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Leaving Van Gogh

4 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: Leaving Van Gogh
avg rating	preview: Leaving Van Gogh Goodreads rating: 3.61 (573 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8757909-leaving-van-gogh?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320552887l/8757909.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8757909-leaving-van-gogh?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Leaving Van Gogh by Carol Wallace[/url]

Leaving Van Gogh

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Carol Wallace

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Leaving Van Gogh

Leaving Van Gogh

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (3)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by Carol Wallace

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Leaving Van Gogh

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (3)