Holland, 1672: a mob tears two statesmen apart in the street while a quiet gentleman in Dordrecht goes on trying to breed a black tulip worth a hundred thousand florins. Dumas makes the flower carry a love story, a prison escape and a rival who will do anything — and keeps it all light. Paintings of Dutch Golden Age gardens, Delft interiors and prison towers; the Gilded Library ornament is tulips, Delft tile and a barred window.