Chasing Sunflowers

by Alison Boulton

Kate, Sean and their young son Luke have moved to Amsterdam with Sean's job. Lonely and adrift in a strange city, Kate is drawn to the paintings of tormented genius Vincent van Gogh. Her decision to study his work leads her to the enigmatic and attractive artist, Rudy de Jong. Rudy paints her in his studio high over the canals but he refuses to speak of his life or his past. Art classes come to an end and, inspired by Vincent's Sunflowers, Kate travels alone to France where she encounters Rudy for a second time...

312 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2015

About the author

I have studied in London, worked in India, and lived in a beautiful windswept village on the Suffolk coast where my children were born. Many of the scenes in Tom's Daughters take place in this village which is known in the book as Cobbleford.

A job move took the family to Amsterdam and my second novel, Chasing Sunflowers, begins here. Returning to the UK, I spent an inspiring year at the University of East Anglia where I acquired an MA in Creative Writing; then I met Chris. A whirlwind romance was followed by a dash to make a new life in the south of France with two car loads of dogs, cats and children. We still live in the Midi, in the huge, stone Chateau that Chris is slowly renovating with my (limited ) help. Here I teach and welcome holiday guests and spend every spare moment writing.

Reviews

[Anni Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a sweet little book about a dysfunctional couple and their attempt to get their marriage back on track after moving from England to Amsterdam, where Sean has taken on a new job. He and Kate have one son, and it's Kate's greatest desire to have another child, though Sean is not so enthusiastic about the idea, given as he is to working full-time and busy watching his female colleagues, or rather their juicy behinds. Kate is lethargic about her love life, she sees it primarily as a means to have another child. In her new surroundings, she acquires a liking for art, particularly for the work of Vincent Van Gogh. And it's there at the art gallery that she makes the acquaintance of Rudy, the artist, who wants to paint her, which she accepts. Meanwhile, Sean begins an affair with Lena, the flighty, high-pitched-voiced colleague who practically lures him into bed.
The characters lack depth, Rudy seems to appear miraculously wherever Kate goes. He's a flabby character, seemingly always mild-tempered and not given to any show of emotion. The idea of Vincent Van Gogh as a background in the book is good, but all in all failed to arouse any kind of interest or emotion in me, even though he was frequently discussed by Kate and Rudy, but mostly on a very superficial level. Kate begins an affair with him, that ends up without any surprises.
The characters seemed to have no reserve about hopping into bed with whoever attracts them, I think the word superficial just about covers most of their actions, no matter how emotional some of the scenes became.
Nothing special about this book, it lacks depth, tension and originality.

[Patricia Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing, gentle story. Full of sunshine, romance, kids and intelligently written. It trots along at a lively pace and leaves the reader wishing that the end hadn't come so quickly! More of a ladies book....