The Black Tulip

A rare flower promises glory. For the man who hopes to grow it, that promise brings jealousy, imprisonment, and an unexpected chance at love.

Set in seventeenth-century Holland amid bitter political conflict, The Black Tulip follows Cornelius van Baerle, a scholar whose greatest ambition is to cultivate a pure black tulip and claim the prize offered for its creation. His devotion to flowers seems far removed from the struggles around him, until suspicion and betrayal turn his sheltered life into a fight to prove his innocence.

In prison, Cornelius finds an ally in Rosa, the jailer's daughter. Their growing attachment becomes inseparable from the delicate task of nurturing the flower he dreams of bringing into bloom. Blending historical drama with romantic suspense, the novel gives a gardener's patient work the urgency of an adventure. Its enduring appeal lies in that contrast: public violence and private tenderness, destructive envy and the stubborn desire to create something beautiful.

What readers find inside:
Dutch political intrigue - The upheavals of seventeenth-century Holland place an innocent man at the mercy of forces beyond his garden.A consuming ambition - The quest to cultivate an extraordinary flower turns horticulture into a contest of patience, skill, and desire.Love under constraint - Cornelius and Rosa build trust and affection within the harsh limits of prison life.Jealousy and betrayal - A rival's envy threatens both Cornelius's hopes and the achievement he longs to share.Hope and justice - The story asks whether innocence and perseverance can outlast cruelty and corruption.
This novel will appeal to readers of classic historical romance, lovers of political intrigue, and anyone drawn to stories in which a seemingly modest dream becomes worth risking everything for.

Enter a world of guarded cells and carefully tended bulbs, where the hope of a single blossom keeps love and ambition alive.