The immortal classic novel of love, ambition, intrigue set amid the Tulip mania of the Dutch Golden Age.

In seventeenth-century Holland, tulips are a highly valued commodity. When the Tulip Society of Haarlem announces a prize of one hundred thousand guilders for the discovery of a black tulip, it sets Cornelius van Baerle on an obsessive quest to cultivate the elusive specimen. But when his powerful godfather is assassinated, the unwitting Cornelius becomes caught up in a deadly political intrigue.

Falsely accused of high treason by a bitter rival, Cornelius is condemned to life in prison. His only comfort is Rosa, the jailer’s beautiful daughter, who helps him concoct a plan to grow the black tulip in secret.