Van Gogh's brother Theo was his confidant and companion, and, in his letters to him, Van Gogh reveals himself as artist and man. Even more than if he had purposely intended to tell his life story, Van Gogh's letters lay bare his deepest feelings, as well as his everyday concerns and his views of the world of art.

Powerful YA novel by an award-winning writer about a teenager coming to terms with the suicide of her sister. 17 year old Tara McClusky’s life is hard. She shares the care of her paralysed father with her domineering, difficult mother, forced to cut down on her hours at school to help support the family with a part-time rest home job. She’s very much alone, still grieving the loss of her older sister Van, who died five years before. Her only source of consolation is her obsession with art — and painting in particular. Most especially she is enamoured with Vincent Van Gogh: she has read all his letters and finds many parallels between the tragic story of his life and her own. Luckily she meets the intelligent, kindly Professor Max Stockhamer (a Jewish refugee and philosopher) and his grandson Johannes, and their support is crucial to her ability to survive this turbulent time. NZ Post Award-wining author Mandy Hager tackles the difficult topic of suicide fearlessly, with a novel that's not afraid to go to the dark places but which resolves its story beautifully. It's uplifting and positive. Dear Vincent is also a novel about the power of love, and how the acquisition of inner peace requires forgiveness of ourselves and others.

"This insight into one of mankind's favorite artists traces the magic and melancholy of Vincent Van Gogh. Out of Vincent's letters to his brother Theo, as collected by Irving Stone, we have selected an exciting and sensitive series of quotations. The quotations in My Life & Love Are One revolve around three themes -love, art and turmoil. Centered around emotion and creation, Vincent's writing and philosophy is as expressive as his art. Whether it's soft and swirling, or rash and profound, the transformation of his thoughts into words colors empty pages with the brightest and darkest moments of his life." -- from Introduction.

INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS. A beautifully illustrated book which pairs Van Gogh's passionate letters to family and friends with his paintings and newly popular drawings. They exhibit the artist's genius and depth of observation and feeling in its most naked form. Here, they have been excerpted and re-translated and set side-by-side with his drawings and paintings from the same period, 1875-1890.