The Black Tulip is a lesser spoken of work of Dumas than the likes of The Count of Monte Cristo (that is rightfully spoken of a lot) and The Three Musketeers (that I haven’t read yet) but absolutely deserves the same recognition and praise. It is an  all encompassing story alike to the Count of Monte Cristo, though a lot shorter (a good or bad thing depending on who you are), it exploring revenge, crime, politics, relationships and love but all withheld by the justice and prison system. The Black Tulip is a historical fiction set during the Dutch Tulip Mania under the reign of William of Orange. It’s a love story constrained by prison between the tulip fancier Cornelius Van Baerle and the jailer’s daughter Rosa, as they fight the odds to pursue their love and grow the illusive black tulip within the confines of prison walls. The role of William of Orange is however largely unrealistic as he involves himself in the lovers individual affairs, highly unlikely for a monarch, in addition to at times the characters appearing slightly one dimensional, however the allusions and language of Dumas, in addition to all the strings of his plot and themes explored settle the flaws of the characters for the most part. It’s a book more of us should really have heard of and bring into intertextual literary debates.