47 pages • 1 hour read
Marta MolnarThe Secret Life of Sunflowers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 25-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 25 Summary
After they have finished the take-out food and everyone else leaves, Bram and Emsley talk. Emsley confesses that she thought he was married, and Bram tells her of his wife’s death. Bram asks if she is ready for a coffee date now, and Emsley accepts. Instead of taking her out, however, Bram invites her to the basement, where they ride the carousel and share a kiss.
Chapter 26 Summary
Johanna travels to The Hague with some of Vincent’s paintings in tow. When she disembarks from the train, she runs into Janus; the two take a walk along the river, and Johanna tells him of her goal to ensure Vincent’s work receives the recognition it deserves. She has been carrying with her a letter from Paul Gaugin, which she finally decides to read; Gaugin is not interested in helping her to promote Vincent’s work.
At the gallery, Johanna meets with Richard Roland Holst. He is adamant that Johanna’s efforts are futile, and she feels belittled and certain that Holst does not take her seriously because she is a woman. She meets Janus once again for the train ride home. When he shows her a newspaper article about Thomas Edison, Johanna has an idea: She announces that she will travel to the United States to promote Vincent’s work there.
Chapter 27 Summary
Sergei arrives at Violet’s home to oversee the transport of some items he has purchased; he jokes with Emsley about her and Bram finally getting together. Emsley, having discovered that Senator Wertheim lives in Manhattan, decides to visit him. She is admitted to see him and immediately confronts him, accusing him of attacking and raping Violet. He insists they had a brief, consensual fling.
Emsley returns to Violet’s to sort out some of Violet’s finances. She contacts the stroke center and negotiates a payment plan for Violet’s final bill. Then, she devises a plan to share Ludington, which she immediately proposes to Trey. He accepts. Bram calls, inviting Emsley to join him for dinner that night.
Chapter 28 Summary
Johanna does not go to the United States but stays in the Netherlands. One night, she invites Anna, Jan, and several intellectuals for dinner. Johanna informs them that she has undertaken a project translating some short stories from French to Dutch; Theo and Vincent’s uncle introduced her to the project.
The dinner is a success, with conversation about literature and art, which Johanna enjoys. When talk turns to Vincent, Johanna gets an idea: She will represent Vincent herself, rather than continuing to search for an agent. She makes plans to contact the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Chapter 29 Summary
Emsley continues to pack Violet’s belongings when Trey arrives. He and Diya have broken up, and he wants to rekindle his relationship with Emsley. He promises her that they can share the running of the business once again. Emsley refuses.
In the afternoon, she receives a call from Strena, whose show is opening later in the day; one of her models cannot attend the performance, so Strena asks Emsley to fill in. Emsley does not have any opportunity to protest before Strena hangs up. Emsley takes a car to the Museum of Modern Art, preparing to tell Strena that she cannot be in the show, but Strena insists.
The show is moving, and Emsley is honored to be a part of it. She realizes that Violet’s legacy has made the art of other brilliant women, such as Strena, possible. Bram, Bram Sr., and Sergei are in the audience. After the show, Strena tells Emsley about Johanna’s letters, which she has been translating from Dutch. She thinks the woman who owned the journal, Clara, was writing a biography of Johanna.
Chapter 30 Summary
Arts and Friendships, a Dutch artists’ society, is Johanna’s remaining hope at securing a show of Vincent’s work. With letters of recommendation from Anna’s husband, Jan, and Richard Roland Holst of The Hague (whom Jan convinced to write one), she asks to speak directly to the person in charge of exhibits. When Johanna is not admitted because she is a woman, she storms in, straight to Mr. DeJong.
DeJong is taken with the art, and, though he emphasizes that he is not sure he admires it as much as Johanna does, he thinks Vincent’s paintings are worthy of being seen by an audience. Johanna has finally secured her first show for Vincent’s paintings.
Chapter 31 Summary
As they leave the museum, Emsley tells Bram Sr. about confronting the senator, and Bram confesses that the senator’s tripping at Violet’s funeral was not accidental. She asks him if he knows anything about the diary and letters; Bram says that Violet found them in the house when she acquired it. Emsley texts her mother to ask who lived in the house before Violet; her mother explains that Violet’s father built it.
Bram Jr. and Emsley eat leftovers for dinner and discuss the sale of the house. Emsley confides in him that she hopes to buy it herself so that she can remain in New York. Their talk about Johanna’s letters prompts Emsley to conduct some internet research and ask her mother some more questions. She discovers that Clara Bakker, a Dutch immigrant who was Violet’s grandmother, was also Johanna’s niece. Emsley is unsure why, if this is true, Violet had kept it a secret.
Chapter 32 Summary
Johanna, Wil, Anna, and Jan travel by train to view Vincent’s exhibit. Johanna tells Wil about his family and ancestors as they travel. Anna worries that Johanna will leave Amsterdam if Vincent’s show is a success, but Johanna assures her that she is content where she is.
When they arrive, DeJong greets them and tells them the show is a success and that critics love Vincent’s work. Johanna places more of his paintings in galleries that day and dreams of a museum in Amsterdam filled with Vincent’s paintings alone.
Epilogue Summary
A year after Violet’s death, Emsley and the others gather at her grave to celebrate her life. Emsley’s company is doing well, as is her relationship with Bram. Diya, in town on business, attends the celebration, too, and she and Emsley repair their friendship. Sergei arrives with news: The mysterious painting of an infant has been authenticated as a van Gogh.
Chapter 25-Epilogue Analysis
As the novel closes, Emsley and Bram begin a romantic relationship. Though Bram has attempted to convey his interest by asking Emsley out on dates, she believed him to be married and refused. Her commitment to not dating a married man can be regarded as evidence of Emsley’s ethics. Though she finds Bram attractive and enjoys his company, she refuses to violate her moral code by dating someone whom she presumes to be married. When she learns that he is a widower, Bram becomes more sympathetic as a man mourning the loss of his wife. Emsley admires his honor of and commitment to her; indeed, when she learns that her grandmother hoped for their pairing, she is further encouraged. The Epilogue suggests that Bram will remain an important part of Emsley’s life. This new relationship, coupled with her decision to turn down Trey’s offer to renew their relationship, shows that Emsley’s character has grown and changed throughout the course of the novel.
Important to Emsley’s transformation, too, is her participation in Strena’s performance art. Initially, she is apprehensive, especially because the piece requires her to be nude. Literally exposing herself is something Emsley is reluctant to do, in part, it seems, for propriety’s sake; Gender Norms and Expectations for Women continue to prescribe modesty, and Emsley struggles against those norms. However, she recognizes that her participation is important to Strena, and, because Strena’s work was regarded as worthy of Violet’s patronage, Emsley honors Violet in participating. The experience proves to be uplifting and freeing for Emsley.
Johanna finally succeeds in her goal of bringing recognition to Vincent’s work, though not without a great deal of effort and failure. She initially relies heavily on the connections to the art world that Theo had developed but finds that none is willing to help. In these encounters, Johanna displays bravery and resolve; she remains confident and stalwart. These characteristics would have been regarded as unfeminine and therefore unbecoming in a woman in the late 19th century. During this time, Johanna truly establishes her independence, supporting both her son and herself financially by running a boarding house. Despite the hard work running the boarding house requires, she does not give up on Theo’s dream, which has become her own dream. Along the way, Johanna develops strong ties to the artistic and intellectual community within Amersterdam. Johanna finds their conversations mentally stimulating and inspiring. In her attempts to garner support for Vincent’s paintings, she frequently insists that she knows little about the medium, but she learns as she perseveres. In the end, her willingness to take a risk by representing Vincent’s work herself ultimately aids in her achieving her goal.
Throughout her time in the Netherlands after Theo’s death, Johanna remains loyal to him. She considers herself still married to him, in a sense, and refuses to consider another man. Though Janus appears interested in a romantic relationship, Johanna keeps their relationship strictly platonic. In this way, her caution and reticence parallel Emsley’s early interactions with Bram. Indeed, despite the decades that separate the two women, Emsley is drawn to Johanna, finding inspiration in her story and recognizing the qualities that she shares with Violet.
A turning point in Emsley’s life comes with her uncovering the truth of both her grandfather’s identity and her family’s connection to Johanna Bonger. Though Violet presumably never reported Taylor Wertheim’s attack to the police or received any type of justice, Emsley’s confrontation of him brings her a kind of closure. Whether she will tell her mother of his identity remains to be seen, but Emsley no longer wonders who her grandfather was and why Violet kept him a secret. Likewise, she is proud to be related to Johanna. Initially, it was the possibility of being directly related to Vincent van Gogh himself that excited Emsley. As she learns more of Johanna’s story, however, it is Johanna who captivates Emsley. Johanna’s dedication and Perseverance Through Adversity to succeed in a patriarchal culture inspire Emsley and will serve as a model in the years to come.
