The Van Gogh Window

Gay Romance #6

by Anthony McDonald

David, 28 and already divorced, is taken on holiday to Provence by his gay best mate. The idea is to recreate the journey Vincent Van Gogh made a century earlier, from cold dark northern Europe to the sunnier south. But in Arles, the town where Van Gogh settled, David sees a nude photo of the boy whose friendship with him brought about his divorce. Deeply buried memories surface. They force David to return to London in search of the boy in the photograph and then, like Vincent before him, to make the longer, deeper journey in search of himself.

Genres: Gay

Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2013

About the author

Anthony McDonald studied history at Durham University. He worked very briefly as a musical instrument maker and as a farm labourer before moving into the theatre, where he has worked in almost every capacity except those of Director and Electrician.
His first novel, Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet, was published in 2001 and his second, Adam, in 2003.
Orange Bitter, Orange Sweet became the first book in a Seville trilogy that also comprises Along The Stars and Woodcock Flight.
Other books include the sequel to Adam, - Blue Sky Adam - and the stand-alone adventure story, Getting Orlando.
Ivor's Ghosts, a psychological thriller, was published in April 2014.
The Dog In The Chapel, and Ralph: Diary of a Gay Teen, both appeared in 2014. Anthony is the also the author of the Gay Romance series, which comprises ten short novels.
Anthony McDonald's short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic
He has also written the scripts for several Words and Music events, based around the lives and works of composers including Schubert and Brahms, which have been performed in Britain and in Portugal.
His travel writing has appeared in the Independent newspaper.
After several years of living and teaching English in France McDonald is now based based in rural East Sussex.

Reviews

[Guy Venturi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Artist window to the world of music

After the loss of his friend "Happy", his divorce from Anne, and getting kicked out of the teaching profession for having an affair with his student, Ian, life gradually gets better as music by Beethoven and the life journey of Van Gogh thru art and travel. Friends are able to provide support as families withdraw from their "gay' boys who love their friends. But mix and match, love and share, hope and hard work all make the life a wonderful experience and a blessing for friendship.

[Roger Kean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Henri had done a starter of Puy lentils dressed with sweet peppers in olive oil, anchovies, lime zest and juice, which was followed by roast quail.

Henri is the 19-year-old French lover of 28-year-old Malcolm, who is in turn the best friend of David, whose story this is. The simple but delicious meals David encounters on this journey through the update of his life are only a small part of the sensuous atmosphere of this novel, and at least a compensation for the upheavals he faces as he is forced to come to terms with everything he has believed in up to and beyond the point of his recent divorce. The eponymous “window” is a symbol through which we get several views, those painted by Van Gogh to the one which darkly looks out from a university student’s bedroom at Durham Prison, from a Montmartre apartment at Van Gogh’s Paris to that of David’s conflicted soul.

But this is an Anthony McDonald Gay Romance, so hair-tearing and breast-beating is soon subsumed in the glorious light of Provence as the protagonists imbibe the brilliant colors and raw emotion of Van Gogh’s southern landscapes, his sunflowers and swirling dark green leaves, wheatfields, poppies, and flapping crows, like turpentine-and-oil-paint-drugged groupies. When David and Malcolm—Malcolm taking a week’s holiday with his friend while copain Henri dutifully spends time with his aging mother—visit a gallery in Arles where David sees a framed photograph of a beautiful teenage boy, posed naked by a riverbank. This is a window into his recent past, for he knows the boy, a former pupil at the school in the north of England where he taught. And who caused his divorce.

Anthony McDonald conjures up the smells of cooking food, the baking earth and herby scents of Provence, the color and coil of the landscape, and wraps the turmoil of human emotion in the embrace of Van Gogh’s vibrant palette. Unmissable.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear that these stories get better each time. This one was fantastic in every respect.

[Choyang · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Van Gogh Window' by Anthony McDonald

There's something about McDonald's writing style and his imagination that makes me feel like I'm reading his personal experiences. That may or may not be true, or partially true, but that's not my point, which is that reading his stories is like being immersed in an art painting process: it's beautiful and sensual and feels like a dream of love and creativity and adventurous exploration, not only of the landscapes but of human sensuality and friendships and lovers.

I really like so many of this author's books, this being one of my faves...
...maybe because I'm an artist (although not nearly on the level of Van Gogh, lol), who is an artist that I greatly admire!
I've been lucky enough to see some of his original paintings in person in museums... and the power and scope of his artistry is absolutely mind-bogglingly breathtaking!

Every time I re-read this book I want to take this journey with the protagonists, to be there in Van Gogh's beautiful countryside and villages and explore it all.

Anyway, really love this storyline and all the images it evokes!

Two thumbs up! 👍👍

[⚓Dan⚓ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prose or Poetic?
If you check the meaning of each word, they both work with Anthony McDonald's writing style. I love everything he writes.
Perhaps Painted Prose works well describing his recent, The Van Gogh Window.
Loved it!