Product Description

The story of sexual betrayal and human failings in 17th-century Amsterdam, as the characters move inexorably towards a grand deception and a tragic climax.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35239 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 259 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Amsterdam of the early 17th century has been forever immortalised by the serene, precise domestic realism of the canvases of Vermeer and Rembrandt, and has been studied with meticulous care by Simon Schama in his marvellous book The Embarrassment of Riches. What Schama identified at the heart of the opulent display of conspicuous consumption in Dutch still-life painting was an anxiety about wealth and commodification which ran throughout 17th-century life in the Low Countries, an argument beautifully complemented by Ann Pavord's marvellous book on The Tulip.

Deborah Moggach's novel Tulip Fever gives both Schama and Pavord's studies a compelling fictional twist. Set in 1630s Amsterdam, it begins with a typical Renaissance love triangle: a wealthy, elderly merchant, Cornelis Sandvoort, his beautiful but frustrated young wife Sophia and the painter who enters their life, Jan van Loos. Commissioned to paint the happy couple's portrait, Jan becomes embroiled in a series of emotional and financial speculations which are to change the character's lives forever. Interspersed with 16 beautifully reproduced Dutch paintings, Tulip Fever is a delightfully conceived story which offers a new dimension to what really goes on within the apparently placid domestic interiors of such canvases. --Jerry Brotton

Customer Reviews

Is that it?
As a few of the other reviewers have already said I believed the hype and bought this book. What a disappointment. I have always believed the cardinal sin of reading was skipping bits, but I don't think I'd be here today if I hadn't skimmed over paragraphs in this turgid book. The narrative is plain boring and the "romance" passionless and unbelievable. I actually made it to the final page and the ending just about reached the heights of a Mills and Boon pot-boiler. Does anyone else feel that reviewers are afraid to say what a book is really like when the general consensus is that only gushing praise will do ?

Not nearly as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring
I loved Tracey Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring so I figured that another book set in the same time and a similar environment would be a good idea. Although very well written, easy to read (I finished it in a day) and quite capturing at times it really didn't do anything for me. I found most of the characters difficult to empathise with and parts of the book were just unbelievable. I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone. If you want to read something by Deborah Moggach she's certainly written much better books. If it's historical Dutch stories you're interested, get Girl with a Pearl Earring instead.

The best novel I've read this year
Totally brilliant! This is a perfect book. It's literary, elegant and thought-provoking (you also learn a lot about the period) but is written in a simple, page-turning style that keeps you on the edge of your seat as much as any modern thriller. Centring on a love triangle, the plot has twists and turns that make your heart beat, as it hurtles towards an ending that is simultaneously tragic and farcical. I had thought that Deborah Moggach just wrote trashy Aga Sagas but I think she has finally found a chance to show off her true genius (maybe a few of the other ChickLit novelists should follow!). I can't wait to see what she produces next.

The novel also includes quotes and, unusually, beautiful coloured illustrations of paintings of the period, giving you a real sense of atmosphere.