Posted by Steven
on 7/4/2009, 12:31:51, in reply to "Re: The Black Tulip"
76.187.98.74
I am about halfway through and should finish the novel tonight. It is quite enjoyable. Just a few months ago I read Dumas' Queen Margot, which is very similar in theme and structure, though about twice as long. It also begins with a bloody historical event, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, then settles down to become a more intimate story of love and intrugue.
I am reading the Oxford World's Classic edition which has an excellent introduction by David Coward with some fascinating background on the author, the historical events portrayed in the novel, and on the tulip mania in Holland. I hadn't realized that Dumas was a one-man fiction factory, and that the books we commonly read are but a small fraction of his output.
Do we have any tulip fanciers in the group? The climate where I live is ill suited for tulips because the winters are too warm.
Here is a picture of the castle of Loevestein. I've searched for a depiction of the fair Rosa's oft-mentioned "Frisian national costume," but haven't found anything worthwhile.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread