Languedoc & Provence Sun

Chasing Sunflowers is the Bookshelf choice in the latest edition of the Languedoc & Provence Sun. If you haven't seen a copy you can read the article here:

Chasing Sunflowers

Chasing Sunflowers is the compelling new novel by Midi author Alison Boulton set in Arles and Amsterdam and peppered with insights into the work of artist Vincent van Gogh.

The book:

Kate has moved, somewhat reluctantly, to Holland. Searching for something to fill the gap in her life now son Luke is at school, she decides to study Van Gogh’s paintings. She explores his work through classes taught by the enigmatic artist and teacher, Rudy de Jong. Rudy paints her in his studio high above the canals and Kate discovers her bolder alter ego, Kaatje.  Kate’s story is interwoven with fragments from Van Gogh’s own and she eventually decides to trace Vincent’s journey to Provence and see the sunflower fields that so inspired him for herself.

The author:

In 2002 Alison Boulton moved to Languedoc Roussillon with husband Chris Burns and their family, to renovate a neglected château and set up a little holiday business in the foothills of the Cevennes. Fresh from a Creative Writing MA she had lots of romantic ideas about tucking herself away to write novels, but the realities of establishing the business and earning a living in a new country meant those plans were postponed. Now the children have grown up, the Château du Fraissinet welcomes holidaymakers every summer season and the dream of publishing a book has finally come true.

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The inspiration:

Alison says: Whilst it is definitely fiction, Chasing Sunflowers also draws on my own experience and this gives the book an authentic feel. The story blends passion with family drama and most readers will be able to relate to the heroine, Kate, as she struggles to establish herself in a new place.

The novel was conceived a couple of winters ago and it began quite simply with a mental image of a small boy painting sunflowers for his mother after a trip to the Van Gogh museum. I lived in Amsterdam for three years with my (then) young family but the vision I conjured of four-year-old Luke never happened as it is written. Neither, I must add, did the rest of the book! Like most writers I find the writing process is part planning and part unconscious creation. I start with an idea and a plot outline but often the imagination takes over and creates something new and occasionally unforeseen.

The original image of Luke with his picture grew into a short story and then, quite slowly, into a novel. Luke’s experience of immersion in Dutch school and the struggle of learning a second language is something that many L&P Sun readers will identify with. Initially, he struggles to fit in and looks forward to his friend Henry visiting from England. This is echoed in the novel by Van Gogh waiting in the Yellow House in Arles for Gauguin, and painting the Sunflowers pictures to welcome his friend.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Many readers will already be familiar with the outlines of Vincent’s story. He was born in a small town in the Netherlands, the eldest son of a Protestant preacher and seems to have been a very intense and serious young man who found it difficult to connect with other people and was often lonely. As an adult he suffered from severe bouts of poor mental health. He was very aware of the problem and voluntarily admitted himself to asylums on more than one occasion, waiting there until he felt well enough to return to the world. His parents were disappointed when he chose to pursue a ‘career’ as an artist but his brother, Theo, spotted his potential and supported him, sending him money so he could concentrate on his painting. Theo continued to do this even when he was struggling to support his own family on limited funds.

In 1888 Van Gogh travelled to Arles in search of the sun, light and colour that he was unable to find in northern Europe. This was one of the most creative periods of his life and masterpiece after masterpiece emerged from the tiny ‘Studio of the South’ in the Yellow House at the Place Lamartine. It was a breakdown here that led to his famous split with Gauguin and the severance of Vincent’s ear. Today, Vincent van Gogh is widely held to have been a genius whose bold use of colour and passion for painting the world as he saw it, changed art forever. But sadly, his incredible talent was not widely recognised until after his death.

When I moved to Amsterdam I was already a fan of Van Gogh so the museum was an immediate attraction and I visited many times. It is housed in an impressive, modern building and has a permanent queue outside! When I came to the south of France in 2002 I was immediately drawn to Arles because of its Van Gogh connection, but returning in 2011 when I was researching the novel gave it a whole new perspective. Like Kate in Chasing Sunflowers, I completed the Van Gogh tour shown in the tourist leaflet and would definitely recommend it for admirers of Vincent’s work.

The Van Gogh Foundation in Arles was not built when I wrote the initial draft of the book but I have gone back for a visit. It is a joy to see Vincent’s paintings in a city that was his home during such a vital and creative period of his life.

Chasing Sunflowers is not just for fans of Van Gogh but will appeal to anyone who loves contemporary fiction with a good splash of passion and mystery woven in.

Chasing Sunflowers is available on Amazon and from Completely Novel

Alison Boulton is also author of Tom’s Daughters available on Amazon for Kindle. 

Chasing Sunflowers on sale in Nimes Airport

Chasing Sunflowers now on sale in Nimes Airport shop. 
Pick up a copy to read while you wait for the plane or treat someone for Christmas.
€15

Chasing Sunflowers - feedback

Have just finished Alison Boulton's amazing book "Chasing Sunflowers". I didn't want it to end! A cracking story which gallops along with twists and turns, is sensitive and brilliant! Thank you. Alison
Feedback from Patricia Cooper, Languedoc Roussillon, France

Real readers are loving the book, so why not the agents???

Chasing Sunflowers - Lord of the BookCovers?

Chasing Sunflowers stunning cover has been short-listed for the Completely Novel Lord of the Book Covers competition. We're not entirely surprised - it's so gorgeous, vibrant and so completely pickuppable!
To make sure it wins please
VOTE CHASING SUNFLOWERS
using this link  http://ow.ly/SCg9P

Chasing Sunflowers - loving these pics of the book in different places!

Please email me a pic of your copy.

Chasing Sunflowers - author interview by Katie O'Rourke

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR ALISON BOULTON

Years ago, I discovered a book called Tom’s Daughterson a writing website and it was so good that I bought a version when it was self-published. It was the first e-book I ever purchased and remains one of the best I’ve read. I still remember the characters like they were real people. So when I heard that the author, Alison Boulton, was publishing a second novel – I jumped at the chance to do an interview.

KO: What did you learn about self-publishing from your first book? How are things different this time around?

AB: An acquaintance suggested that he helped me self-publish Tom’s Daughters as an e-book to see if he could ‘make us both a fortune.’ I was happy to accept this as it hadn’t been picked up despite being sent to numerous agents. I wasn’t comfortable negotiating the formatting and the technical stuff required to put in on Amazon for Kindle. He also did the cover from a photo I provided and set up a website. I think the deal was that he got 25% of revenues. The downside was that when sales were slow he lost interest and I got frustrated nagging for information and at not having control to update accounts myself.

This time round I wanted control from the beginning, and I also wanted a book that I could hold in my hand. I’ll put it on Kindle later, of course, but having the paperback makes publication and being a writer feel much more real. I think other people’s reactions have been more positive too.

KO: Where do you get your story inspiration from?

AB: For me a story starts with an image or a couple of images that are linked in some way. With Tom’s Daughters I wanted to write about sisters, but there was also the picture of a young woman with a small child in North London. The issue of the mysterious father was hovering in the background.

With Chasing Sunflowers it was again the image of a child, this time a boy, painting sunflowers for his mother. It was clear they were in Amsterdam where I also lived for a few years, and that the mother was lonely.

I then have to sit and try and work out the bones of a plot. Sometimes I write random scenes or conversations. Chasing Sunflowers was written first as a short story, but then it slowly grew into a novel, changing and developing in the process. The actual ending was the last thing to become clear.

KO: What kind of writer are you? Do you plot everything out before writing or does it evolve throughout the process? Do you force yourself to write every day? How long does it take to write a novel?

AB: The writing definitely evolves, but there has to be a certain amount of plotting too, plus a timeline of events. It always takes me a while at the beginning to sort dates out – how old was that character when this happened, etc.? And some thought must go into how the threads of the story entwine and unfold to keep the reader interested. There should, I think, always be some sort of denouement at the end. And I don’t really like sad endings, so I haven’t written one yet!

And it takes me ages to finish a novel, maybe even two or three years, because other stuff – like teaching and running our holiday complex – get in the way. I have to earn a living, unfortunately. I’m hoping the next one, currently called The Red Balloon, will be quicker though. And I do try to at least look at it every day but I don’t always succeed.

KO: Tell us about Chasing Sunflowers. Who is your audience?

AB: Chasing Sunflowers is the story of Kate, who moves to Amsterdam with her husband and young son. Lost and lonely in a new city, she develops a passion for the paintings of Vincent van Gogh. Her decision to study them leads her to artist Rudy de Jong and following in Vincent’s footsteps, she makes a trip to Arles which transforms her life.

So, it’s a book about a woman who steps outside her own life, and how the experience changes her. There’s quite a lot about Amsterdam, the south of France and Vincent van Gogh too.

My first audience is me, since it was me I told the story to first and I liked it. So after that people a bit like me, I suppose; usually female, maybe over 25, though my daughters who are 20 and 22 enjoyed it too.

KO: What are your favorite books?

AB: I mostly read books about ‘real’ people and characters in plausible situations. I’m not a fan of Magic Realism or Fantasy novels. I hate anything sensationalist, badly written or too soppy. I love Ian McEwan, AS Byatt, Anne Tyler, and Doris Lessing amongst many others. Some of Lessing’s writing is futuristic, but then I love the prophetic nature of her work. Also EM Forster; I always say Howards End is my favourite book. I don’t know if it’s really true but it’s definitely up there.

KO: Alison, thanks so much for sharing and best of luck with the new book.

Interviewer Katie O Rourke. Originally published on Todays Author http://todaysauthor.com/2015/08/26/interview-with-author-alison-boulton/

Chasing Sunflowers - a snippet

'Panneau' of Van Gogh's painting; les Alyschamps, Arles

‘Here’s the panneau,’ Rudy said. ‘It’s a study of autumn leaves rather than the burial ground.’

Kate examined the picture. It wasn’t a painting of history. Vincent seemed to have lived quite spectacularly in the present; autumn trees, the long alley, the cold blue-grey stone of the tombs, figures – people moving across the canvas. A transiting moment captured and stilled, a slither of time under a microscope.‘It’s typical of him. He’s painted almost nothing and seen everything,’ she said at length.‘Now you begin to understand,’ Rudy approved. To hide her pleasure, Kate tossed her head and walked faster towards the half-ruined church that awaited them at the end of the path.