Seventeenth-century Amsterdam - a city in the grip of tulip fever.

Sophia's husband Cornelis is one of the lucky ones grown rich from this exotic new flower. To celebrate, he commissions a talented young artist to paint him with his beautiful bride. But as the portrait grows, so does the passion between Sophia and the painter; and ambitions, desires and dreams breed an intricate deception and a reckless gamble.

Sent as part of the Alphabet VBB. Hope you enjoy it.

Chosen from Alphabet VBB round 22. Thank you!

Set in Amsterdam in the 1630s, the golden age of Dutch painting, when the way to achieve immortality is to sit for a portrait. Wealthy Cornelius Sandvoot, an elderly man with a beautiful young wife, invites painter Jan van Loos into his home to paint them. Sophia is a virtuous wife but her heart is not in her marriage and every day she hears about love from her maid, Maria, who has taken a lover. Thus begins a web of deception in which they dig themselves deeper and deeper. And in the background, tulips! Amsterdam at this time is in the grip of madness as everyone seeks to make their fortune speculating on the bulbs, which can bring the price of a house for one. Inevitably the players turn to tulips to save them as they are drawn deeper into the net. This is a really good read, full of suspense.