The book is an easy read, with useful tips on tulip growing in the 1600’s Netherlands, and the text is also packed with skills on sales and negotiation. Of all characters, I took a liking to Paulus because he was the most complex. Throughout the book, it’s impossible to fathom whether he’s downright cruel, greedy and superficial, or if he can offer genuine sympathy. His ignorance and greed soon make him plunge himself and his brothers into a state of abject poverty and sheer misery.Īdmittedly, a despicable man, Paulus van Bereysten is nonetheless a compelling and charismatic character – an ugly, fat, arrogant and stingy bastard who eventually manages to turn his feeblenesses into a weapon he cunningly wields to his own advantage. Wilhem, the eldest and now head of the family, soon falls into the thrall of this cunning merchant who entered their lives and took advantage of his gullibility – first by seducing him into becoming his lover, then by tricking him into investing all of his assets in the tulip bulb commerce.

In order to better provide for his offspring, Cornelis writes a letter to Paulus van Bereysten, an affluent and influential person – also an old friend whose life he’d once saved – asking him to become his sons’ protector. Until his return, he delegates his firstborn to take care of his younger brother and sisters, their small business in Haarlem also in his charge. Cornelis Van Deruick, a widower and father of four, decides to go to the Americas to make a fortune for his family.

Semper Augustus by Olivier Bleys