Meet the Author: Joan Fernandez - SAVING VENCENT, A NOVEL OF JO VAN GOGH

Joan Fernandez presents her book, SAVING VINCENT, A NOVEL OF JO VAN GOGH. 

About SAVING VINCENT, A NOVEL OF JO VAN GOGH

In the tradition of The Paris Bookseller and Her Hidden Genius, the story of a real woman overshadowed in history by the giant talent she saved, Vincent van Gogh.

How did a failed belligerent Dutch painter become one of the greatest artists of our time?

In 1891, timid Jo van Gogh Bonger lives safely in the background of her art dealer husband Theo’s passionate work to sell unknown artists, especially his ill-fated dead brother Vincent. When Theo dies unexpectedly, Jo’s brief happiness is shattered. Her inheritance—hundreds of unsold paintings by Vincent—is worthless. Pressured to move to her parents’ home, Jo defies tradition, opening a boarding house to raise her infant son alone, and choosing to promote Vincent’s art herself. But her ingenuity and persistence draw the powerful opposition of a Parisian art dealer who vows to stop her once and for all, and so sink Vincent into obscurity.

Saving Vincent reveals there was more than one genius in the Van Gogh family.

About Joan Fernandez

Joan Fernandez is a novelist who brings to light brilliant women’s courageous deeds in history. She is a former senior marketing executive and general partner of the financial powerhouse Edward Jones. In 2018, she retired from a 30+ year career to be a full-time writer. Since leaving the corporate world, she’s become a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Author’s Guild, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA). In April 2020, she founded a Historical Fiction affinity group within WFWA that grew from a handful of people to nearly two hundred authors. Her short story, “A Parisian Daughter,” is published in the anthology, Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. Her debut novel, Saving Vincent, A Novel of Jo van Gogh, published in April 2025.

Joan is a sought-after public speaker, recently presenting “Top 10 Secrets for Forming a Vibrant, Lasting Author Community” at the Historical Novel Society UK Conference in May 2024. She also presented “How to Portray the Past Truthfully without Harm” at the Tenth Anniversary Conference for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association in September 2023.

Additional memberships include the Missouri Writers Guild, Unite Against Book Bans, Right to Read Coalition and PEN America.

Joan calls both St. Louis and Sedona, Arizona, home, enjoys foodie meals with her Cuban husband and antics with grandkids.

Special thanks to our partner on this event, Main Street Books!

Click HERE to find more books by Joan Fernandez at the Library.