Most readers would know that Vincent Van Gogh’s life was a tragic one. This novel sheds light on how love came into his life, however fleeting and seemingly impossible it was.

Vincent & Sien focusses on Van Gogh’s relationship with Sien Hoornik, a pregnant prostitute with a daughter, whom he takes pity on when he encounters them on the frozen streets of The Hague in 1882. Vincent is open and naive, desiring Sien both as a woman but also as a model for his obsessive drawing. He believes her to be truly beautiful, beauty that comes from a life that has been hard.

Sien is openly bemused by all the attention. After all, she inhabits the very margins of the late 19th century Dutch society. She recognises Vincent is a gentle soul. Quashing her concerns, she stays with him, allowing him to use her as model and muse for two years. Sadly, the relationship is not accepted by his family who Vincent relied on for income and artistic support.

The real strength of this novel is the detailed historical research. It captures a gruelling life of harrowing poverty, highlighting the differences between their lifestyles and giving the reader a view, however uncomfortable that might be, into the social milieu of the time and how people did whatever they could to survive. It is an interesting insight into a meeting of society’s misfits: Vincent already troubled by the mental illness that would plague him all his life and Sien, who could never see a happy life, but had glimpses of it, all the same.

Reviewed by Lesley West

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Silvia Kwon was born in South Korea but grew up in Perth, Western Australia, when her family migrated there in 1977. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Western Australia.

Visit Silvia Kwon’s website