Quite by accident, the three novels I chose to take with me to Holland were all set back in the 1600s, the country’s Golden Age.

The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

If you’re going to Delft consider reading this novel about Vermeer, the famous 17th century Dutch painter who spent the majority of his life in Delft.

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas (of the Three Musketeers fame)

Dumas, best known for his swashbuckling romances, has based this novel on the trumped-up arrest and murder of the de Witte brothers, and the ramifications for their nephew who is in the process of nurturing a bulb that will produce the mythical black tulip. Lots of action!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Novel about Amsterdam set in 1686, when a young woman marries into the family of a wealthy merchant, and the tragic undercurrents that are exposed in her furnishing of the miniature house she receives as a wedding present.
More of Ailsa’s Travel Theme: Books. This also works for Jennifer Nichole Wells’ One Word Challenge: Book.