Member-only story
Want a Great Self-Published Novel? Try The Secret Life of Sunflowers
Indie Historical Fiction by Marta Molnar
Surprised by delight
I have no idea how I found this book, whether I read a review or saw a picture of the cover. Regardless, the title and the book art piqued my interest. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’ve always had a thing for sunflowers, especially since my dad had planted a long line of them in front of our backyard hedge. My parents had an old Kodak film reel of me at the age of six, touching each of the stems, my blonde hair glowing in the sun just like the heads of the giant blooms, as I walked toward the cameraman, my Daddy.
Sixty years later, I think of those heavy-headed stems of brilliant yellow and understand Vincent Van Gogh’s attraction to sunflowers. One of my biggest regrets about college is that I never took an Art History class to learn more about the artists and masterpieces of the world. The older I get, the more interested I am in art, so I was delighted when I discovered that The Secret Life of Sunflowers is about Johanna Bonger, a Dutch woman who became Vincent Van Gogh’s sister-in-law and brought his work to the world.
To further amp up my interest, I found out that The Secret Life of Sunflowers was a self-published book. Kudos to any…
