Skip to main content

Review: The Tulip Virus, by Danielle Hermans


Pages: 278

Original date of publication: 2008 (in Dutch)

My edition: 2010 (Minotaur)

Why I decided to read: a blogger mentioned this a while ago and I decided to try it for myself

How I acquired my copy: from the library, April 2010

The premise of The Tulip Virus centers around the tulip craze of the 1630s. The 1636 murder of a tulip trader in Alkmaar is contrasted with the murder of Dutchman Frank Schoeller in modern-day London. Alec Schoeller, the nephew of the man murdered in the present day, arrives at his uncle’s home to find him dying. His uncle gives him a book—a catalogue of tulips from the last great auction before the tulip bubble burst in 1637. Alec’s search for his uncle’s killer leads him into the dangerous world of tulip trading. The differences between Science and religion are sharply drawn in this story of greed.

The mystery of the novel sort of fizzles out—the motive for murder is clear from the beginnings, even if the jacket copy doesn’t give it away. The author’s grasp of the history behind the story is strong, but really the historical bits take a back seat to the modern-day story, which is much more interesting.

Hermans’s skill lies in character development—Alec is one volatile man! And impatient—how I cringed at the scene where he’s nearly ripping apart the endpaper of the catalogue to get at what’s underneath! There’s a lot of tension between Alec and Damian, all the more so because of a certain event that’s revealed about halfway through. I did feel at times that this book is part of a series of novels; over and over Wainwright (the detective) mentions a previous case of his involving a serial killer. In Alec’s search for his uncle’s killer, there’s a lot of expostulation about the tulip trade, which is interesting; but I found it slightly unrealistic that no mention would be made (until the crucial point in the plot) of the Semper Augustus tulip bulb—the Holy Grail of tulip bulbs. It’s a bulb so rare and beautiful that the ultimate irony is that it is created by a very harmful virus.

Aside from my reservations about the book, I did think the book was well-paced. Since this is only Daneielle Hermans’s (there’s an umlaut over the first “e” in her first name) first book, I look forward to see what comes next from her.

Comments

Marg said…
I have read one book about the Tulip craze and would like to read more. It seems like such a strange event, and yet it is true! Thanks for the review.

Popular posts from this blog

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars

Six Degrees of Barbara Pym's Novels

This year seems to be The Year of Barbara Pym; I know some of you out there are involved in some kind of a readalong in honor of the 100th year of her birth. I’ve read most of her canon, with only The Sweet Dove Died, Civil to Strangers, An Academic Question, and Crampton Hodnet left to go (sadly). Barbara Pym’s novels feature very similar casts of characters: spinsters, clergymen, retirees, clerks, and anthropologists, with which she had direct experience. So it stands to reason that there would be overlaps in characters between the novels. You can trace that though the publication history of her books and therefore see how Pym onionizes her stories and characters. She adds layers onto layers, adding more details as her books progress. Some Tame Gazelle (1950): Archdeacon Hoccleve makes his first appearance. Excellent Women (1952): Archdeacon Hoccleve gives a sermon that is almost incomprehensible to Mildred Lathbury; Everard Bone understands it, however, and laughs