VAN GOGH’S EAR

by Bernadette Murphy (Vintage £11.99)

EVERYONE knows two things about the artist Vincent van Gogh: the first is that he painted the famous image of sunflowers, to be seen in the National Gallery and on innumerable fridge magnets. The other is that he cut off his own ear.

About this desperate act, so many legends have accumulated over time that it seemed the truth would never be known.

But that was before Bernadette Murphy started her research. Murphy lives in Provence and knows the area intimately. Finding herself with time on her hands, she began to explore Van Gogh’s sad story and was puzzled by discrepancies in the accounts.

The result is a gripping detective story which painstakingly pieces together myriad facts — and one big discovery — to produce a vivid account of the painter’s tragic story.