The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas, pére, narrated by John Bolen

This book mostly concerns a horticulturist, Cornelius van Baerle, who gets caught up in politics just before he can achieve his crowning success--the cultivation of an entirely black tulip. I enjoyed the story, and there's certainly a good revenge plot, but there's just not as much there as in some of Dumas's better novels (like The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers).