Reading matters

'The Black Tulip' by Alexandre Dumas

Fiction - paperback; Penguin Books; 288 pages; 2004. (Translated from the French by Robert Buss.)

Set in Holland during the 1670s, this short, cinematic story is essentially a love triangle between two people and a flower - the much sought-after black tulip, tulipa negra.

The opening scenes, bloody and gruesome, put the reader in the thick of the action right at the outset, but this is deceptive: the story is not the ghastly violent one the first chapter may lead you to expect. Instead, it is a gentle, well-plotted romance interwoven with real life events from Dutch history. But on a slightly deeper level it is also a tale about righting wrongs, fighting tyranny and seeking justice.

The opening scenes, bloody and gruesome, put the reader in the thick of the action right at the outset, but this is deceptive: the story is not the ghastly violent one the first chapter may lead you to expect. Instead, it is a gentle, well-plotted romance interwoven with real life events from Dutch history. But on a slightly deeper level it is also a tale about righting wrongs, fighting tyranny and seeking justice.

'Girl with a Pearl Earring' by Tracy Chevalier

Fiction - paperback; Harper Collins; 248 pages; 1999

Set in 17th century Holland, this novel tells the story of a young Protestant girl, Griet, who becomes a maid in the household of artist and Delft School member Johannes Vermeer. Griet, who struggles to understand her place in this strange new Catholic world, becomes Vermeer’s secret assistant. She graduates from cleaning his studio and grinding the lead for his paints to becoming the famous wide-eyed girl in his painting Girl With a Pearl Earring.

While Chevalier successfully recreates the hierarchical society in which the artist was revered and captures the simple beauty of Vermeer's portraits in stripped-down prose, I found the writing stodgy, the characters dull and the plot somewhat unbelievable. I found myself continually wondering why it was so damn important for this girl to hide the fact that she was Vermeer's assistant. Let's hope that the film is more enlightening and exciting.