This is an enjoyable little book, with a lively female main character. I thought at first that the tulip grower Cornelius was going to be the main focus of hte book but in fact Rosa the jailers daughter completely steels the limelight. It is Rosa who is the active force for most of hte book, Cornelius merely instructs and languishes. he is not however a pitiable character, rather his fine temperament is shown through how he bears his misfortunes, with dignity.

Dumas has a slightly florid writing style and is certainly guilty of romanticising the past, even if he spares few details of the murder of the de Witt brothers at the hands of the mob. He makes William of Orange out to be a cold (probably correct) but gracious and slightly sentimental figure. Towards the end of the book William is shown to feel remorse for falsly imprisoning one man and failing to protect his old friends; this does not read true to me, William was politically pragmatic but determined, he would never have regretted an action taken to secure the state or his own position. ( )

Nice audiobook. Good adventure book. ( )

I really was not with it at all for the first four chapters - I have an aversion to politics on a cellular level, but once the romance kicked in, it was a wonderful tale. I truly enjoyed the intrigue and the race to produce the Black Tulip! ( )

3½*

A nice blend of historical fiction, romance and adventure - just what I expect from Dumas! The adventure isn't quite up to the level of The Three Musketeers being more intrigue than actual adventure but it was still fun. ( )

3.5 rounded up.

Nothing makes me feel like a youngster again quite like reading Dumas. He is a consummate storyteller and when you are reading the story is everything, you are immersed in it, you are suffering the confinement and the injustice and the suspense. The romance is necessary, but not terribly realistic, but then Dumas’ strength is action and it is his male characters who seize and keep your interest. Nobody watched Errol Flynn movies to see the fainting heroine...she was his prop.

This degree of fervor over a tulip might seem extreme, but it is, in fact, based on the history of the time. Holland had tulip fever that amounted to a mania. Dumas certainly put this to good use in his plot development and the creation of the fanatic, Boxtel.

A fun read for me and just right for reading between tasks at this time of year.
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