was a great book set just after the crazy tulip craze, A young artist who is the daughter of an artist gets the opportunity to apprentice under Johannes Vermeer, painter of the Girl with a Pearl Earring.
She has attracted the insane lust of a crazy man leaving her to pursue her dream, true love, and passions while working to gain freedom from an obsessed man.
I have read Laker's To Dance with Kings which is an amazingly beautiful book set during the building of Versailles! This amazing novel has many different story threads woven together beautifully.
At the heart is the story of Francesca and her family, Francesca is the daughter of a decent artist in Amsterdam, Taking after her father, she appears to be headed toward great things in the art world, An apprenticeship is acquired for her with the relatively unknown at the time Johannes Vermeer in Delft, Things all seem to be looking up Francesca has an apprenticeship, her family appears to be doing well her father has a wealthy patron, and she finds herself falling in love with Pieter a tulip grower and landscape designer.
Just when things appear to go well, all starts to fall apart, The patron of her father has become obsessed with Francesca and is determined to marry her no matter what the cost! How do these problems affect Francescas art How will her family fare What will happen to the blossoming love between Francesca and Pieter
My favorite part about this novel was the way the characters were written.
I truly felt for the characters, I would be excited when good things happened and very upset when horrible things happened, Each character felt so real they all had their flaws and personalities and didnt feel typical, One of my favorite characters was a minor character Catherina Vermeer, Johannes Vermeers wife, She was so good to Francesca and I just loved her personality,
It is very obvious that a lot of research went into this book, Tulipmania was explained in relative depth this was when the price of a single tulip bulb climbed to as high as a years salary, everyone wanted them, and then the market crashed and people were left penniless.
There were also great descriptions of the cities of Amsterdam and Delft, Vermeers paintings were discussed what the meaning are behind some of the works and symbols, stories about the sittings as well as physical descriptions,
I really loved this book it had so many little stories happening with this family and was very intriguing, I cannot wait to get to read The Venetian Mask which is on my shelf right now,
.out ofstars
Excellent historical novel about Amsterdam, Although the principle Artist family is fictitious , Jan Vermeer, plays a prominent role, The intrigue of the romances of thedaughters was a delight, I especially appreciated the culture, the architecture, and the War with France and Prince William of Orange, The discussions of painting of the Dutch Royal Age taught me so much, DON'T MAKE VIOLENCE AND ABUSE JUST ANOTHER PLOT DEVICE IN YOUR NOVEL!
I was attracted by the story but at the very beginning, there was unnecessary scene in my opinion of a child abuse.
The end. I stopped there. This novel takes us toth century Holland against the background Of William Of Orange coming of age and Louis XIV's invasion of Holland, This is they heyday of the great Dutch painters,
Francesca Visser wishes only to learn to paint, Marriage is the furthest thing from her mind, In fact, she is minded not to marry, Her younger sister, Aletta is also struggling to find independence while the youngest Sybylla wants to marry the richest man she can find,
Since the death of their mother from bearing Sybylla, Francesca has been responsible for running her father's household and raising her sister, Although her father loves his family, he is a somewhat feckless impractical man with a weakness for gambling which leads him into trouble that directly affects Francesca.
Two men love Francesca, Pieter Van Doorne and Ludolf Van Deventer,
She goes to Delft to apprentice to Johannes Vermeer only to find to her bewilderment the freedom she has always enjoyed taken away, Meanwhile her sister, Aletta gets on the wrong side of their father and also finds herself in Delft, Sybylla prepares herself to marry only to get sidetracked,
I greatly enjoyed this novel, It took me less time to read than I thought as I found it difficult to tear myself away,
Highly recommendedStars
I read this book ten years ago, after reading another novel by Laker, To Dance With Kings, I enjoy her writing style, although her character portrayals are typical of the time period she's writing and of the time the books were writtenss.
All in all, an enjoyable read that I will most likely pick up again, Seemed a good book to read en route to Amsterdam seeing as it is set in that city,
Add to that the three sisters who feature in the book ,the daughters of a Dutch artist, and painters themselves, The eldest falls in love with a tulip maker, the second with a penniless artist,
When they are not painting and doing other Dutch things, the girls walk by the canals and go visit Rembrandt and his family !
Clearly it had all the right ingredients.
Plus we got it forcents in an on the road side sale,
"Lets buy , read and junk" said S, So we did. of course we didn't junk it, And here it is back in Mumbai on our already overloaded book shelves !
PS And now it's become a family favorite, A and A love it too ! When I first read the description of this story I had the smarts not to read anyone else's review, I enjoyed what I read beforehand and I didn't want other people to tarnish my opinion, I think if I had read someone's lessthanfivestar review, I would not have considered reading the book, And I am glad I did this because THE GOLDEN TULIP was such a rich and honored narrative with considerable depth,
So, if you have read the publisher's depiction and you think this is a story you might want to read, STOP HERE.
Read the story!
My :
I will start with the biggest drawback, The hardcover I read waspages with small print, The actual size of the book was not overly large but you could have easily used it to press flowers,
The story was historical fiction mixed with real characters that lived during the's in Holland, a former province of the Netherlands, Francesca Visser, a young woman, wanted to become an artist in the truest sense: a Master Painter, This was a serious profession if you had money and influence to seek an apprenticeship, It was also the story of the three men that affected her the most,
Her papa, the artist Hendrick Visser, was a fiftysomething year old man with the attitude of a selfabsorbent boy, His moodiness, excessive drinking and gambling habit affected his household all the time, He controlled the money but required his wife, and then Francesca, to pay the bills, This issue was a constant source of anxiety,
Then there was the sordid, degenerative Ludolf van Deventer, her father's patron and a man whom lusted after Francesca, He was determined that nothing would stop him from possessing her, NOTHING. The best way to describe him Think of oily sandpaper running over your skin,
Lastly, there was the kindly Pieter van Doorne, From the first moment he saw Francesca, he knew in his heart she was someone special, He was a horticulturalist before the term came into being, He tended to his bulbs and landscaped to make ends meet, As strongly as Francesca wanted to become a Master Painter, Pieter had a deep passion for growing flowers, Because he understood her intentness, he respected Francesca, And with a fierceness he had never felt before, he loved her,
Francesca's sisters, Aletta and Sybella, tug and push the plot along, There were two wonderful secondary stories in the second half of the book when they reach adulthood, You will also 'meet' Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer with all their idiosyncrasies, I am not an expert on art but there was a time or two that I wondered if Ms, Laker took some liberties. On the flip side, the author took great care in bringing these people, along with all the others, to life,
THE GOLDEN TULIP was very much a characterdriven story, It contained espionage, family drama and romance with some surprising men, Until now, the closest I have come to enjoying a book from this general era was THE TINNER'S BRIDE by Irene Northan, Like that story, TGT won me over with five, This story is led by a fictional character, Francesca, Through her a reader gets to experience theth century Amsterdam and its rich history, known for great artists and tulips,
As Francesca grows up listening to her fathers stories about famous artists of Florence, she learns to appreciate art herself, With her family being acquainted with Rembrandts family, a reader gets to know briefly the great artist and his struggles as well,
After the death of her mother, at the age of, Francesca takes over the responsibility of the household and her painting lessons vanish with the grief of her father.
But one day a young man appears at their door to deliver tulip bulbs, It is Peter, proud horticultural business owner, Shortly after her fathers art dealer arranges for her apprenticeship with Vermeer in Delft, Meanwhile, Francescas life starts to take a different turn until a new patron for her fathers paintings enters the scene, Ludolf is a scheming and very unlikable character,
As Francesca enters her apprenticeship, a reader gets to know the famous artist Vermeer and his family, Also, the conflict between Louis XIV of France and Prince of Orange is weaved into the story,
Overall, I enjoyed this story and Im getting to like the style of writing of this author, This is the second book Ive read by her, But I gave this bookdue to the very one unlikable character, who spoiled the story for me at some point to a point that I almost put the book away.
But Im glad I didnt,
.