The Golden Tulip: A Novel
by Rosalind Laker
List Price:
Our Price: $7.24
You Save: $7.71 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Rosalind LakerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-11-27
ISBN: 0307352579
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Reviews of The Golden Tulip: A Novel
Book Review: (3.5) "His debauchery was taking its toll on his eyesight and his hands."
Summary: 3 Stars
This ambitious novel is set in Holland at the end of the seventeenth century, decades after the tulip fever that raged across the small country, eventually bringing about a ruined economy for those who engaged in runaway speculation. Yet tulips remain a popular variety as well as a viable export, if in more judicious quantities. Even more notable in this period is the level of respect given by the public to accomplished artists. In Amsterdam, Rembrandt has reached the peak of his genius, the chiaroscuro technique competing with the light-filled canvasses of Johannes Vermeer. A successful student of the painter Frans Halls, Hendrick Visser earns a decent living for his wife and three daughters; but Hendrick's fatal flaw is an overweening ego and penchant for gambling, frequently putting his family's fortunes in jeopardy.
It is, in fact, Visser's gambling that thrusts his family into circumstances that cause his eldest and most talented daughter, Francesca, to face an uncertain future at the hands of a devious suitor who threatens Hendrick with financial ruin. Both Francesca and her sister, Aletta, have aspirations of becoming painters like their father. After the death of their mother, Francesca is finally allowed to receive training from Johannes Vermeer, her skill in capturing light similar to that of the popular artist. But thanks to her father, a cloud hovers over Francesca's future, Visser's bargain with the devil, ship broker Ludolf van Deventer, robbing the girl of the joy of her apprenticeship with Vermeer. The other sisters suffer for their father's duplicity as well, but all remain loyal and respectful to the man whose self-centeredness will determine their futures. With Holland on the cusp of war with an aggressive Louis XIV, unrest permeates even the artistic world, the country restive under William of Orange, dreading a confrontation with France.
Upon this complicated palette the sister's stories unfold, Francesca determined to win the approval of the Guild, Aletta's path more complicated, Sybylla's more selfish. Like an evil spider, van Deventer remains the family's nemesis, skillfully manipulating Francesca's environment, while scheming behind a façade of gentility to cement his position in Holland's future. Given the social constraints of the seventeenth century, Hendrick has every right to make the decisions that obligate his daughters. In spite of their troubles, it is the pursuit of artistic excellence that that binds this family, the smell of paint and brushes, the light-drenched studios where life transcends the ordinary, canvasses depicting an idealized world in the face of war. While engaging in personal battles to define their lives, the sisters remain committed to one another's best interests, Hendrick's failures feeding their successes in spite of dire circumstances.
My one issue with the novel is the oversimplification of the male figures, Laker's predictable villains lacking nuance, her heroes handsome and without fault, the female characters more delicately drawn than the stereotypical good guys vs. bad guys that limit the emotional range of The Golden Tulip. The noble Francesca is the helpless damsel in distress, hands and feet bound, an oncoming train bearing down on her, waiting for her rescuer. To be fair, this character does her best given the paucity of opportunity offered by society, confined only by the imagination of her creator. Luan Gaines/ 2007.
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.17
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Tulip Feverby Deborah Moggach
Dial Press Trade Paperback; Published: 2001-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Dark Angels: A Novelby Karleen Koen
Broadway; Published: 2007-05-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.73
Price in other shops:
Garlands of Goldby Rosalind Laker
Severn House Publishers; Published: 2009-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $109.26
Through a Glass Darkly: A Novelby Karleen Koen
Sourcebooks Landmark; Published: 2003-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.30
Price in other shops:
The Sugar Pavilionby Rosalind Laker
Doubleday; Published: 1994-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $37.81
Orchids and Diamondsby Rosalind Laker
Doubleday; Published: 1995-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops:
Garlands of Goldby Rosalind Laker
Severn House Publishers; Published: 2009-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.82
Price in other shops:
Circle of Pearlsby Rosalind Laker
Doubleday; Published: 1990-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.56
The Venetian Mask: A Novelby Rosalind Laker
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2008-03-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.22
Price in other shops:
To Dance with Kings: A Novelby Rosalind Laker
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2007-05-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.96
Price in other shops: