A Respectable Trade

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I liked seeing Frances grow as a character. She starts out being shy and submissive, willing to do whatever people tell her to do without asking any questions, but as the novel continues, she slowly becomes more independent, and realizes that what her husband is doing isn't entirely sound at all. The writing is typical Philippa Gregory style, and it's utilized very well in this novel. Everything is descriptive, and it's gritty and realistic. She uses lots of unflinching descriptions in this, and it pays off really well. Philippa Gregory’s historical novels include The Other Boleyn Girl (developed into a BBC adaptation as well as a Hollywood film), The Queen’s Fool, The Virgin’s Lover, Earthly Joys and Virgin Earth.

A Respectable Trade - Wikipedia

There was nothing to fear, there was nothing to make him uneasy, yet still he stood wakeful and listening as if the coop-coop-coop of the hunting owls or the little squeaks from the bats which clung around the stone towers of the palace might bring him a warning. Fans of Gregory’s phenomenally successful Tudor novels will encounter a more somber, pensive writer in A Respectable Trade. Re-issued by Touchstone, this novel set in 18th century Bristol offers a painful glimpse into the flourishing slave trade of the era, which enabled the majority of England’s enterprising merchants and the nation at large to amass fortunes at the cost of unimaginable human suffering. Rather than opt for comfortable characters and pat storylines, Ms Gregory has crafted a quiet, powerful meditation on the nature of mankind’s inhumanity toward our fellow man, and the compromises we make to excuse and obscure our choices. The romantic love interest was so far fetched and so completely irresponsible of one of the main characters (Francis) that I just couldn’t ! Frances and Mehuru are the main characters, but we also follow the Cole family's story. Josiah Cole is gullible and ambitious. Unlike Frances, he is morally ambivalent, desperate for ready cash, and prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But both he and his sister had very humble beginnings. Their father was a collier, and his older sister Sarah has worked hard all her life to establish a firm base for their trade, Then one day she finds her growing friendship of her "pupils" developing into something more when she falls in love with the enigmatic yet charming Mehuru.Philippa Gregory is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first ever novel, Wideacre, when she was completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature and it sold worldwide, heralding a new era for historical fiction. If this book was JUST historical fiction, it would've been trashy, a bit melodramatic and pretty dang fun to read. However, Ms. Gregory had to make it a romance too, which ruined it. It’s the middle of the night,’ the boy protested and then stopped when he saw Mehuru’s look. ‘Yes, master.’ When she marries Cole, Frances doesn’t realise he expects her to help run his business. When she does get involved she develops an attraction to slave Mehuru (Ariyon Baker).

A Respectable Trade (TV Mini Series 1998) - IMDb A Respectable Trade (TV Mini Series 1998) - IMDb

The novel provides an interesting analysis of how an individual's attitudes can change. The Bristol merchants do not seem to adapt at all, and neither do Frances's relatives, but those in her household mostly shift position as the novel progresses. Even the cook and servants, initially as exclusive, aggressive and judgemental as anyone, begin to side with the slaves, and the reader sees that both underclasses are forming a sort of solidarity. Add to that Frances' failing health and the money worries of the scheming Josiah as he overreaches himself in more and more schemes to make money their outwardly happy world looks set to collapse. The great roar and sweep of history is successfully braided into the intimate daily detail of this compelling and intelligent book’ He got up from his sleeping platform, wrapped a sheet around him and went quietly to the door. The city of Oyo was silent. He looked down his street; no light showed. Only in the massive palace wall could he see a moving light as a servant walked from room to room, the torch shining from each window he passed. There was a strong performance from Richard Briers who played nicely against type as the nasty and rapacious Sir Charles Fairley.Philippa Gregory is clearly aware of her reputation for embroidering the facts. She stated that she had never before felt the need to write an author's note for her novels, but that,