Featured Reading Guide
Deborah Moggach
Amsterdam in the 1630s: blessed by not only commerical Wealth, but also the richness of art, literature and mustic. Sophia Sandvoort’s elderly husband Cornelis has commissioned a portrait of them both, like many of his fellow Dutchmen, has made money from the precarious but rampant speculation on this exotic new flower and its bulbs which grips Holland. But between the young bride Sophia and the painter, Jan Van Loos, burns a fierce attraction with her customary skill at capturing men and women’s emotions and fears, Moggach unfolds a story of sexual betrayal and infidelity. A grand deception is…
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topAbout the Book
Amsterdam in the 1630s: blessed by not only commerical Wealth, but also the richness of art, literature and mustic. Sophia Sandvoort’s elderly husband Cornelis has commissioned a portrait of them both, like many of his fellow Dutchmen, has made money from the precarious but rampant speculation on this exotic new flower and its bulbs which grips Holland. But between the young bride Sophia and the painter, Jan Van Loos, burns a fierce attraction with her customary skill at capturing men and women’s emotions and fears, Moggach unfolds a story of sexual betrayal and infidelity. A grand deception is conceived, leading events towards a tragic climax… From one of our foremost contemporary writers comes her most accomplished novel to date. An exquisitely crafted novel of art and illusion, doomed love and a tulip bulb. .
topDeborah Moggach interview/review
topStarting Points for Discussion
- Disguise, deceit and illusion are central themes in Tulip Fever and at times art seems to be offered as something more reliable and substantial than life. Consider this bearing in mind that Moggach herself is creating an illusion through her fiction.
- Consider the structure of the novel, why do you think Moggach decided to have more than one narrative voice? Whose voice, if any, do you trust?
- Consider the women of the novel, their relationships with men and with each other. To what extent are their fates seen to be dependent on their men and where does the balance of power lie between the women themselves?
- Examine the location of the novel. How do the descriptions of the setting add to the underlying themes and moods of the story?
- How contemporary do you feel the book is in terms of the themes and questions it raises? What present ‘tulip fevers’ might Moggach also be alluding to?
- Does the novel lead to a satisfactory conclusion? What do you think Moggach’s own feelings towards her characters are, does she intend for her readers to condone Sophia and Jan?
Other Books by Deborah Moggach
Driving In The Dark
Desmond never did have much luck with women – except in getting them through…
Final Demand
Natalie is a girl who should be going somewhere. Beautiful, bright and amb…
Hot Water Man
Fresh from London, Christine and Donald Manley have come to the alien swelter…
In the Dark
1916, pretty young Eithne Clay runs a shabby genteel South London boarding …
Porky
At school they called her Porky on account of the pigs her family kept outside…
Seesaw
Take an ordinary, well-off family like the Prices. Watch what happens when one…
The Ex-Wives
Actor Russell Buffery’s voice is his most reliable organ where women are co…
These Foolish Things
When Ravi Kapoor, an over-worked London doctor, is driven beyond endurance by…
You Must Be Sisters
In respectable middle-class Harrow, three sisters are growing up and going …
Suggested Further Reading
- The Rose Grower ~ Michelle de Kretser
- Book of Mrs Noah ~ Michèle Roberts
- Madame Bovary ~ Gustave Flaubert
- The Handmaid’s Tale ~ Margaret Atwood
- Dangerous Liaisons ~ Choderlos de Laclos