A Respectable Trade: The gripping historical novel from the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (Epub)

Description

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.

User’s Reviews

From Publishers Weekly This moral spellbinder, set in Bristol, England, in the slave-trading 1780s, is being freshly issued a decade after publication Although the sentences are not as fine as in Gregory’s current work (The Other Boleyn Girl etc.), and the plot takes some awkward leaps, the book brilliantly shocks the conscience with its intimate and unsparing portrait of slavery. It’s a romance, but not a sentimental one, built around the impossible love between white slave owner Frances Scott Cole and the black African Mehuru, a priest and adviser to his king before being kidnapped and designated as property. A strength of the book is that although Gregory, as usual, makes us feel the second-class status of 18th century women, she draws no cheap comparison between Frances’s status as silk-clad chattel (to her gaspingly ambitious slave-trader husband, Josiah’s) and the rigors and terrors of a black slave’s life. Superb portraits abound, especially that of Josiah’s sister, Sarah, a cranky spinster who makes poetry of her pride in being a member of the trading class, eagle-eyed at the account books. Gregory’s vivid portrait leaves one feeling complicit; as the abolitionist Doctor Hadley notes: “the cruelty we have learned will poison us forever.”Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the paperback edition. Review “Philippa Gregory is a mesmerizing storyteller.” — The Sunday Telegraph (London)”When it comes to writers of historical fiction, Philippa Gregory is in the very top league.” — Daily Mail (London)”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 (London) –This text refers to the paperback edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Philippa Gregory has always been a really good writer whose books always seem to have been thoroughly researched and thus historically accurate. I must admit, however, that my interest in British royalty did not match her prolific writings about them. It was with great relief, therefore, that I read this incredible dramatization of the sea-merchant component of the slave trade in Great Britain in the early 1800’s. Very suspenseful and one of the best reads I’ve had in 2016. I bought this as a gift; my friend who I bought it for loves it and can’t put it down. Thank you, Ms. Gregory! You are a mainstay for one who likes fiction, but is fussy about reading something worthwhile. This writer is right up there with Barbara Kingsolver, T.C. Boyle and the few others of that ilk who are currently writing.

⭐ This is an intriguing book by the author, with a story line that is simple enough. Frances Scott, an impoverished thirty-four year old, gently reared daughter of a cleric, is left to fend for herself by her dead father. Her uncle, Lord Scott, has been assisting her and has found her work as a governess, a job that she loathes. When an upstart tradesman, Josiah Cole, proposes matrimony, she jumps at the chance. It is a marriage of the utmost convenience.What she does not know is that her husband and his spinster sister, Sarah, trade in slaves, as well as other commodities. When a shipment of slaves comes in, Frances is expected to train the slaves to be servants that can then be sold to wealthy families. After all, having an African servant was all the rage in late eighteenth century England. Her instruction of her captives is a slow process, giving Frances an opportunity to get to know her slaves and the cruelties that have been inflicted upon them. She is, however, without resources to help them.Along the way, she falls in love with Mehuru, her major domo, and he with her. Therein lies the rub. In eighteenth century England, it was unheard of for a lady of gentle breeding to do so, and Frances has not the strength to follow her heart. Meanwhile, her ambitious husband is oblivious to all that is going on in his household, and involves himself in one scheme after another, trusting on some new found friendships that are suspicious at best. When he finds that his “friends” have merely taken him for a ride, all hell breaks loose.Much of the dialogue between Frances and Mehuru is pretty laughable, reading like a bad Harlequin romance. Their love affair simply does not ring true. Moreover, the characters in the book are too one dimensional and are pretty much caricatures. Overall, the book is a choppy, uneven affair, but a still a moderately enjoyable one, if one is a fan of the author. Others may not be so forgiving. Still, there are parts of the book that are somewhat interesting, and I was sufficiently intrigued to get the Masterpiece Theatre production of the book for which the author herself wrote the screenplay.

⭐ Philippa Gregory is an enjoyable and dependable story teller. You know that you will meet well developed characters who act out unlikely plots and hold your interest, even if story lines become a bit predictable. A Respectable Trade, the story of a series of unlikely events set in Bristol toward the end of the 18th Century, follows this Gregory formula and solidly delivers.Mehuru is a priest in the African kingdom of Yoruba and is on a quest to save his country from the ravages of slavery when he is beset upon and captured by white slavers from England. Perhaps ironically, his own slave is captured as well. Meanwhile, back in England, landless and aging Frances Scott is wearing her welcome thin under the roof of her uncle’s lordly family and thus applies for a job as governess. Instead of a job, she is offered marriage by the man who interviewed her, one Josiah Cole. Cole is a struggling shipping merchant with ambition who sees ties to the Scott family as a stepping stone on his road to wealth and respect. His cold fish sister Sarah isn’t too keen on Josiah’s attempt to climb the social ladder. With no other options, Frances marries beneath her station and tries to make the best of it.The charges she was originally interviewed to govern turn out to be a dozen or so African men, women and children. Sarah and Josiah believe that they can train these select slaves to be excellent house servants who speak the Queen’s English and within 6 months turn a pretty profit by selling to select Bristol families. Frances, who has never considered the grisly details about how her families (new and of origin) make their money, finds herself questioning all she has known. She sure likes the comforts of upper class living… but when she suddenly realizes the “stock” have faces, names and feelings, Frances discovers new feelings of her own. Is she an accessory to a crime? A teacher? A respectalbe wife from a respectable family? Her feelings become especially new and uncomfortable when Mehuru walks into her dingy merchant dining room…The details of the story which follow are both slightly predictable and unfathomable considering the time (Mehuru quickly becomes fluent speaking and reading English and manages to be rather mobile and unsupervised for what one might expect for a slave in Bristol during the height of the trade). However, the themes which underlie the story are well worth exploring. Is the grass really greener on the other side? Does wealth equate respectability? Does race matter? Does social class? How much risk should one take when investing? How much research? Where does wealth come from? Who really pays? Can love really over come all?In our ever growing global capitalist economy, these are important questions to consider. Why not reflect upon social justice and responsibility while reading a solidly enjoyable novel?

⭐ A RESPECTABLE TRADE is one of Philippa Gregory’s earlier novels, first published in 1995, and re-released in 2007 now that her popularity has increased.The novel concerns the relationships and lives of Josiah Cole, Frances Scott, and Mehuru, a trio of individuals whose lives become entangled through the desire for financial gain, dubious morality, and sheer bad luck. Mehuru was a priest in Africa, captured by slave traders on a diplomatic mission. Frances Scott is a noble-born, penniless woman living off the generosity of her uncle. Josiah Cole is a sugar- and slave-trader, eager to make a name and a fortune for himself no matter what it takes. Josiah marries Frances, hoping that her noble connections will help improve his position in life, and requests that she train a group of slaves, including Mehuru, to be house slaves.The novel begins with a painstakingly detailed, and heartbreaking, description of the slave trade. The reader is transported, along with Mehuru, and witnesses the horrible conditions of the slave ships. Worse even than the physical horrors to which the slaves are subjected is the slow breaking down of the slaves’ spirits. The reader watches as Mehuru, a well-educated, extremely intelligent leader in his own country, is stripped of all his power. However, Mehuru is a fighter at heart, and refuses to accept the degradation to which he has been subjected.Mehuru’s journey is compared with that of Frances. As a woman of that time period, Frances is also powerless. However, her experience could never be as affecting as Mehuru’s because, unlike him, she accepts, and even profits, from the status quo. Slavery is a normal, unquestioned, part of life for her. She eventually does begin to question the morality of slavery, but, unlike Mehuru, she doesn’t have the strength, or perhaps the desire, to fight her station in life, which ultimately makes her harder to sympathize with.Despite the weakness in the Frances’ character, the slow development of her friendship with Mehuru is interesting to behold. Their personalities are incredibly different, but because they’ve both been rendered powerless, they somehow understand each other intuitively.The plot is a bit unrealistic for the time period (I won’t ruin the developments here) but the portrayal of the slave trade, the position of women, and the amorality of businessmen of the time make this book a worthwhile read.

⭐ It’s a similar style to her other books, but the characters felt very forced and the plot was less subtle than I enjoy. Some of the African touches felt contrived or uncomfortable, which would be ok since slavery was an awful part of the posts and *should* make us feel uncomfortable; however, I felt like it read less powerfully due to the weakly carved characters.

⭐ This was incredible read. I wouldn’t have read it but for authors legacy as great writer. I loved how she weaved history through the love story of forbidden love. I had not realized how slavery destroyed Africa or the abolition movement in England, no civil war-but almost. I wish she had added it ended there in 1830 and many island planters went under. The success of this book is in the realistic characters-and the irony of a woman who is training slaves who in reality is one herself, tho less so. It’s a very moving -probably her best work yet, and I loved the White Queen.I am so glad I didn’t miss this. This is a book you will remember for a long time. A true love story.

⭐ This is not a happy feel good story. Instead the reader is plunged into the tragic world of slavery. Told from the captured African’s point of view as he faces a strange new lifestyle in 1770 England, we see clearly the savage mistreatment of human beings which commonly took place. I recommend this historical novel to help understand our own history.

⭐ I liked the story, as many others books by F.Gregory (with couple of exceptions, such as The Other Boleyn Girl).

⭐ A Respectable Trade by Phillipoa Gregory is a story that primarily follows the complicated relationship between Francis and Mehuru. Although the novel begins at a somewhat slow pace in order to establish backstory, it becomes an increasingly interesting tale. While a less experienced author may have shied from the subject matter, here Ms. Gregory handles it with realism. The characters feel true to the time period, without being anachronistic, and exist as fully drawn-out personalities.

⭐ This book is so realistic in its depiction of slavery that I had to put it down sometimes. It presents the complicated situation of a woman who has no rights beyond those bestowed upon her by her husband and how she is forced to comply with his business needs all the while realizing that slavery is NOT a respectable trade as she had been taught. It’s the story of her awakening and of a country on the brink of outlawing the trade. As always, Philippa Gregory pays meticulous attention to detail and the human condition.

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