La tulipe noire

The story opens in a bustling 1672 The Hague, its elegant canals and Gothic houses framing a city on the brink of panic. Citizens flood the streets, knives at their belts and muskets on their shoulders, racing toward the grim walls of the Buitenhof prison where Cornelius de Witt awaits judgment for a murder he insists he did not commit. The vivid portrait of a city caught between daily life and looming danger pulls the listener straight into the heart of the Dutch Golden Age.

Cornelius, a seasoned inspector and former mayor of Dordrecht, stands as a symbol of the Republic’s fragile stability. He and his brother, the influential Johan de Witt, wrestle with the rising influence of Louis XIV, whose ambitions cast a long shadow over the Dutch provinces. Their struggle reflects a nation torn between loyalty to a fledgling republic and the allure of a powerful new order.

Amid this political turbulence, a singular obsession emerges: the elusive black tulip. Its rarity and mystery become a quiet thread that weaves through the lives of diplomats, conspirators, and ordinary citizens alike, promising a tale where personal ambition and national destiny intersect in unexpected ways.