Rating: 
Summary: she's a master
Review: I think Deborah Moggach is a master of misdirection. It really fascinates me how she can lay something so obvious right in front of your nose but then prevent you from seeing it. I don't always engage with her characters deeply, but I always like the mind of the writer behind what I'm reading.
Rating: 
Summary: not particularly memorable
Review: Speedy little novel about a young married woman, Sophie who falls in love with the painter who has been commissioned by her husband to paint them.I found this novel rather predictable, and didn't really accept or understand Sophie's love for Jan, it didn't seem 'real'. The added pictures throughout the book gave the story an authentic air, however, I enjoyed "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" much more.
Rating:
Summary: Period charm with ¿memento mori¿ ending
Review: In this lovely little book Amsterdam's Golden Age comes alive with its fools, drunks, painters, moralists, Calvinists, and capitalists. The period and place are very well and engagingly described as backdrop to the story of an impetuous and impecunious painter and an unawakened, beautiful burgher's wife. Several Tulipomania legends are interwoven, including the famous one of a man who inadvertently consumed a fortune (though in the legend it's a sailor who hasn't been in Holland for several years). This novel is a charming, fast read, consisting of short chapters that are written from different characters' perspectives. Through this device, their personalities are quickly but deftly drawn (the priggish painter's apprentice, the slightly smug neighbour's wife, the callow but sharp-eyed maid). The only problem is that the main protagonists also remain perhaps a bit too faintly and impressionistically sketched, rather than being portrayed with more verisimilitude, in a more highly detailed way -- which would be more stylistically and chronologically consistent with the style of portraiture prevalent at the time in Holland. The final denouement should not have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Amsterdam's history and geography, but the writer drew me into the story so well that the earlier hints were superseded by the red herrings and other fish that Moggach merrily layed out along her paths and canals of misdirection. The "illustrations" to the book -- major period works, many of mistress and maid scenes -- are a wonderful addition, as are the almost throwaway lines about the later life of and scholarship about the works of the fictitious painter Jan van Loos. Altogether, a very enjoyable, entertaining book, even if the protagonists are not the most compelling thing about it.
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Summary: Wonderful Background, Trite Story
Review: In 1630s Amsterdam, fortunes were made and lost speculating on, of all things, tulip bulbs. In fact, comparisons are sometimes made between the Tulip Crash of 1637 and the stock market crash of 1929. Tulip Fever is an interesting book because of its unique and rather exotic setting, but, in the end, it is just another dull and trite story of seedy adultery. Twenty-four year old Sophia is married to the hard-working, proud and pious sixty-one year old Cornelis Sandvoort. Although she has never really loved him, she does remain grateful to him for rescuing both her and her mother and sisters from a life of devastation and poverty. She thus submits to her husband's nightly advances, not with passion, but with a certain resignation and an air of obligation to provide him with a child. Trouble arrives when Cornelis decides to have Sophia's portrait painted (in a gorgeous Delft blue silk gown) by the young Jan Van Loos, a handsome and dashing artist. While Sophia and Jan are attempting to sort out their difficulties with Cornelis, Sophia's maid, Maria, also runs into problems. The girlfriend of a fish seller, Willem, Maria now finds herself pregnant, and, of course, alone. Suffice it to say that a little blackmail ensues between the two women and Sophia ends up concocting a daring plan that involves an elaborate deception and wild tulip speculation. If it succeeds, great, but if it doesn't, only catastrophe will follow. The author does an excellent job of bringing seventeenth century Amsterdam and its citizens to life. Her details are rich, varied and vivid. History abounds in this novel but it never overwhelms it. In fact, I, myself, would have loved to have learned more about the tulip craze and what made people invest so heavily in something as mundane as an ordinary garden bulb. The short, succinct chapters are interspersed with reproductions of Northern European paintings and epigraphs from essays and literature of the period. While Tulip Fever is well-written, the problem I had with it is that once stripped of its very interesting setting, the story is just another ho-hum story of adultery and its myriad consequences. I am certainly not against adultery in any book, when adultery comprises an essential element of the plot, but an entire book about adultery can, and does, get more than a little tiresome. Personally, I blame The Bridges of Madison County for the influx of boring adultery books; Tulip Fever is a little better than Bridges, but not much, for in the end, Tulip Fever is simply the story of a vain and beautiful woman who cockolds a perfectly wonderful man whose only sin lies in loving her a bit too much. I'm not necessarily a fan of highly moral characters or happy endings, either, but Tulip Fever is a novel whose story has been told before, many times, in fact. The background, though, is so wonderful that I couldn't help but wonder what these same characters would be like if the author had only given them a fresh and original story to tell.
Rating:
Summary: I read this book in 24 hours!!!
Review: The first page drew me in -- a scene where Sophia is watching her elderly husband eat. It was an odd way to start a book. As an aspiring writer of fiction, I was actually checking out the first pages of several books. It made me laugh. This is a good story. I ended up caring about the characters, because the author did such a good job of describing their motives. My only criticism is the bar scene with two strong obscenities. I understood Willem's frustration without that. I'd call this great literature if not for that. Still, it's an excellent book written by an experienced writer. I'd put it up there with MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA/A. Golden.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful story
Review: I was almost afraid to read this book after reading the reviews, although I'm glad I did. I found this book to be a very fast read, I really liked the short chapters with the different characters views. This book was aliitle too wordy or descriptive at times but I liked the comparisons too the tulips and paintings.
Rating:
Summary: A solid effort
Review: There are a couple of things about Tulip Fever that seem jarring at first: the present tense narration for one, and the short, choppy chapters, each one from a different perspective. It's not too hard to get used to those devices however, and the story is generally a solid, well-told one, perhaps because of those devices. The characters, however minor, all seem important, and the reader gets to know each one precisely because they all narrate at some point. The present tense action draws the reader in, although it does at times feel forced. Moggach also does a superb job blending the tulipomania and the story of Sophia and Jan--the social, political, and economic background of the novel never dominates the story, which often happens with historical and period pieces. We learn enough to flesh out the plot and the characters, enough to make their actions seem real and plausible, but we're not overburdened with extra info. And while I could never really like Sophia, or Maria, or Jan, I could understand them and their actions, their motivations, whether I agreed with them or not. All in all, this novel is very readable.
Rating: 
Summary: Passionate Intrigue
Review: Not only was the story exciting - but beautifully written as well. Well-crafted historical novel that kept you on the edge of your seat. Loved the structure and the use of the quotes. Found the end very moving. We highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Everyone, But Worth the Effort
Review: The reviews are mixed about this book, and for good reason. It is probably one that you will either love or hate. The story is told through the voices of the characters in turn, which can be a bit disjointed to start with when you are trying to get all the personalities sorted out in your mind. But the dizzying effect also adds to the sense of climax that is reached when all the threads of the story come together. The historical detail is interesting and adds to the flavour of the story, but it is the characters that keep you reading. Although the ending was never going to be happy and was not entirely unpredictable, there are unexpected twists and resolutions which keep your interest to the last page. If you like historical fiction, if you like a love story, and can tolerate an ending you would not have chosen for the characters, then you will enjoy Tulip Fever.
Rating:
Summary: I really liked it
Review: In this book I found myself walking the streets of a dutch city or looking at a Vermeer painting. I was totally taken by the overall atmosphere of the times : the tulipomania, the painters, the booming economy of Holland at the time. I personally didn't find the book to be predictable but well constructed, delicate in a way. Most is not said. It is up to the reader to sense: this was the magic of the book for me. I had a great time reading this book for its simplicity, engrossing storyline and hidden messages.
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