Seventeenth-century Amsterdam, a city in the grip of tulip mania and basking the wealth it has generated. Cornelis, an ageing merchant, commissions a talented young painter to preserve his status and marriage on canvas. At the sittings, as a collector of beautiful things, Cornelis surrounds himself with symbols of his success, including his young wife, Sophia. But as the portrait grows, so does the passion between Sophia and the artist; and as ambitions, desires and dreams breed an intricate deception, their reckless gamble propels their lives towards a thrilling and tragic conclusion. About The Author: Deborah Moggach was born into a family of writers and has had fifteen novels published. She continues to successfully adapt her own and others’ work for film and TV, including Close Relations , Stolen and Seesaw . Her most recent novel, Final Demand , is a poignant and beautifully written follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Tulip Fever . Deborah lives in north London.