TULIP FEVER

Sophia’s elderly husband decides to have the couple’s portrait painted, and when Sophia meets artist Jan Van Loos, she struggles against her attraction to him--but their love affair has the inevitability of a train wreck. When Sophia and Jan decide they need to escape and build a new life for themselves, they stake all and join in the tulip speculation. The listener hopes they’ll succeed against all odds and is drawn into the frenzied world of Amsterdam during the height of tulip mania, when a bulb was worth a fortune. Skillfully narrated by Rula Lenska, the story’s pacing makes it hard to stop listening--even when it’s clear some-thing terrible is going to happen. Characters’ voices are well differentiated and believable, although the Dutch accents are sometimes off. J.D.P. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 05]