For the great authors of the mystery genre, such as Matilde Asensi, it must be more difficult to find the argument interesting in itself than the development process. From the religious to the artistic through the social, political and economic, History always houses those enigmatic flashes on very diverse aspects. And each author invites us to the fantastic journey that involves entering into encrypted knowledge, into secrets kept under seven keys, into transgressive discoveries regarding how we even conceive our world.
But also in the curious and the anecdotal that passionate argument is awakened. We are very much about generating great myths based on conspiracy foundations that sometimes acquire that point of disconcerting truth.
What became of portrait of doctor gachet? Van Gogh built a particular relationship with this psychiatrist, also fond of art (undoubtedly an interesting relationship in which both knew about art and madness). The point is that Van Gogh made two portraits of his friend. Or that is what is supposed to have happened, because the already indicated historical myth, about the relationship between the two in this case, opens up to hypotheses of all kinds that include a copy executed by Gachet himself.
The first of the portraits, the undoubted original, also has its dark history since it was auctioned at a record price in 1990 to the Japanese businessman Saito. In a prosaic fiscal interest, Saito ended up hiding the painting. But he hid his location so much to try to avoid taxes, that at his death in 1996 nothing was known about the canvas ...
And that's where Asensi's frenzied pen comes in to embark on a trip to Japan with 5 people with the particular task of discovering what really happened to the painting. In the mosaic of personalities as disparate as those of Odette, Hubert, Oliver, Gabriella and John, we face an adventure perfectly woven into that suspenseful setting in which Asensi will always be a teacher. And we get answers, yes. Only in the search for the whereabouts of the painting we will be asked new questions about art, Van Gogh, Dr. Gachet and a kind of intricate plan that has led our five protagonists, with their peculiar profiles, on that journey.
You can now buy the novel Sakura, the new book by Matilde Asensi, here: