Bookatlas
1850
Cover of The Black Tulip

The Black Tulip

Alexandre Dumas · 1802–1870 · France

Originally La Tulipe noire (French)

Why it matters

A gentle horticulturist is thrown in prison amid the mob lynching of Holland's de Witt brothers, then races a treacherous rival to breed the impossible: a truly black tulip. Dumas turns a flower contest into a prison-cell thriller.

At a glance

historical fictionromance
Difficulty 3/10fast pace280 pages

Short and clear, with a simple prison-and-contest plot.

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