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'The great roar and sweep of history is successfully braided into the intimate daily detail of this compelling and intelligent book' Penny Perrick, THE TIMES 'Philippa Gregory is a very good storyteller indeed' SUNDAY TIMES
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The devastating consequences of the slave trade in 18th century Bristol are explored through the powerful but impossible attraction of well-born Frances and her Yoruban slave, Mehuru. Bristol in 1787 is booming, from its stinking docks to its elegant new houses. Josiah Cole, a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But he needs ready cash and a well-connected wife. An arranged marriage to Frances Scott is a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah's protection, Frances enters the world of the Bristol merchants and finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, rum and slaves. Once again Philippa Gregory brings her unique combination of a vivid sense of history and inimitable storytelling skills to illuminate a complex period of our past. Powerful, haunting, intensely disturbing, this is a novel of desire and shame, of individuals, of a society, and of a whole continent devastated by the greed of others.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
powerful,
By
This review is from: A Respectable Trade (Paperback)
This novel by Philippa Gregory takes a look at the slave trade in the period leading up to the abolition.
It tells the story of Mahuru, a high priest taken as a slave, and Francis Scott, the wife of the merchant who owns the slave ship that took him. In an effort to increase his wealth, Francis's husband wishes to train the slaves as servants to be sold to wealthy families, and to Francis falls the task of teaching them English customs. The characterisation in this novel is very superior. Mahuru is a kind, intelligent man who quickly masters the English language, but never loses sight of his heritage. But perhaps the most developed character is Francis, as she struggles between the ways of the English aristocrat that have been drilled in to her since childhood, and her growing empathy with those she must teach. Philippa Gregory handles this with skill, and those who have criticised Francis for wanting the best of both worlds, forget that far from being a woman ahead of her time, Philippa Gregory has taken the more original step of creating a woman very much of her time. Her descriptions of the brutality the slaves had to endure are poignant and all the more disturbing for their accuracy. It is right that the story does not gloss over the behaviour of our ancestors, as a less dedicated writer of historical fiction might be tempted to do. This novel has the Philippa Gregory trade mark attention to detail and thorough painstaking research. I was quite moved to tears by the end. A haunting novel well worth reading and rereading.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You can always depend on a Gregory,
By
This review is from: A Respectable Trade (Paperback)
Cracking, self-contained adventure that is informative and entertaining throughout. A rollercoaster ride towards doom, you might think, and although most of your worst fears are realised by the end of the book, Gregory gives Josiah Cole a way out with the suggested formation of a bank. Though most people know about the American slave trade, Britain's part in this disgraceful business is not always so well covered. Thank heavens for Wilberforce.
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous,
By Merry R "Patch of Puddles" (Peterborough) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Respectable Trade (Paperback)
This is a book i have come back to again and again. The period of history it covers is fascinating and was relatively unknown to me and the empathy with the characters is enormous. It is beautifully and skillfully written.
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