Van Gogh lived in my bedroom

…when I was a child, that is. I’d almost forgotten about him until my friend

Joan Fernandez

’s new novel reminded me. I would wake up every morning to this painting of a Young Man staring at me solemnly from the wall at the foot of my bed.

My mother adored Van Gogh - as who does not? So she ensured that his prints graced the house, and I was lucky enough to have this one. I had no idea that it was by Vincent, of course. In fact, I thought it was a painting of our greengrocer, Mr. Hester, a man who would show up outside the house once a week with his horse-drawn wagon and his vegetables

He, too, sported an Errol Flynn mustache and wore a light coat in an indeterminate mustard color, topped off with a rather battered hat. The resemblance, as they say, was uncanny. My mother complained that he never let her choose the individual pieces of fruit that she wanted, and fobbed us off with bruised apples and pears, but I suspect now that other matrons on the street (much more Hyacinth Bucket than my mother) got exactly what they wanted.

But he was always a welcome sight, because my sisters and I adored Peggy, his horse. On a good day, Mr. Hester would allow us to feed her a carrot—palm flat, so as not to get our fingers bitten off. The day he arrived in a motorized van instead of with his horse was the beginning of the end of my childhood. He told us Peggy had retired, and I didn’t quite believe him. But Mr Hester’s portrait still hangs in my house, sixty or so years later.

Now Van Gogh has come back into my life in a different form.

Joan Fernandez

is publishing her debut novel today. Saving Vincent is a wonderful historical novel about Vincent’s sister-in-law, who saved his paintings after he died, having sold only one. She persevered until she finally got the critics and the public to recognize his talent. Its heroine is by turns plucky, tenacious, and frustrated, but she makes it through many obstacles (often put in her way by men) to triumph in the end. It’s a great, satisfying read. Try it!