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The Black Tulip

Alexandre Dumas

Start date: December 1, 2017

Finish date: December 31, 2017

Why we're reading this: December 2017 Old School Group Read
[close] December 2017 Old School Group Read

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What Members Thought

Dec 01, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

I am not generally a fan of romance novels but this one is filled to the brim with accurate and intriguing history, a setting that acts as a character, a protagonist who loves flowers -- tulips -- even more than he loves people, and a heroine who doesn't just sit back and do as her father says. I learned things from the book which is always fun when reading historical fiction. The book centers around tulips and the breeding of flowers which gives it a very unique storyline to explore. Despite th ...more

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Jul 16, 2019 Nola Tillman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-drama, classics, fiction-historical

For the novel: This may overtake The Three Musketeers as my favorite Dumas novel. The novel starts off with a history lesson that is anything but bland, then connects it to a fictional character (the godson). Admittedly, the whole innocent man wrongly convicted by historical association was done by Dumas previously in The Count of Monte Cristo, but this was a decidedly less dark and vengeful book (much less time also passed). Unlike most of the Dumas novels I've read, this takes place in Holland ...more

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Jul 09, 2016 Erica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, netherlands, own, 2-star, 2016

Ugh. I did not enjoy this at all. I wanted to try a shorter Dumas book before I attempted The Count of Monte Cristo, or the Three Musketeers. This just seemed so dull and superficial. I know lots of people love this, but it just wasn't for me. ...more

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Feb 21, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: hf-17th-century, historical-fiction, french-literature, read-2008

Set at the height of the "tulipomania" that gripped Holland in 17th century, this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle, a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect specimen of the tulip negra. ...more

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