Piers Alexander

Set during the reign of James II and the Glorious Revolution, Calumny Spinks wants to be apprenticed to a trade but his father refuses to grant his wish. It appears Peter Spinks has a secret, one which sees them both travelling to London after the unwarranted death of Calumny’s mother. Calumny becomes a coffee racketeer and when Peter’s past catches up with him in the form of a blackmailer, they find themselves in a race against time to gather the money together to make payment.

I mostly enjoyed this book. I did find it confusing at times as there were so many characters and I found the writing style a little disjointed. It’s quite the romp through a tumultuous period in history. It reminded me somewhat of Game of Thrones on occasion. I enjoyed the historical side to it and thought there was a good sense of time and place. It was all well described. All in all, I found The Bitter Trade a fast paced and exciting adventure story with a fascinating cast of characters. I understand it’s the first in a trilogy so am interested in reading the next book in the series, Scatterwood.… (mere)

I was drawn to this book by the cover and having read the synopis expected a book about the importation of coffee in the seventeenth century.

Instead the book was about a young man, called Calumny living with his family in rural England during the terbulance of the seventeenth century, the removal of James II and the installation of William of Orange.

Calumny has a hatred for his father, He can not understand why they live in the middle of nowhere, why he can not read and why he not allowed to learn a trade that will enable him to leave his family home and become his own person.

Very little is known of his father's background, but before long a visitor from his father's past arrives and with them a set of decisions to be made and Calumny has to find a way to undestand and deal with the secrets of his father.

Overall, I was a little disappointed there was not more details of coffee trading, but overall this was a good storyline. There was a little disjoinedness between the historical facts, but nonetheless this was an enjoyable read and this is a book I would recommend and I am looking forward to the sequel.

Full review is located at http://anglersrest.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/the-bitter-trade-by-piers-alexander.ht...… (mere)

I must admit that I was somewhat surprised by A Bitter Trade – from reading the synopsis I was expecting a tale of coffee. Growing coffee, importing coffee and selling coffee. That is not what this book is about except for a very minimal portion of the plot. What I did get was a tale of a young man coming of age in a very tumultuous time in England’s history (erm, well one of the tumultuous times in England’s history anyway. There were certainly more than a few of them.)

Calumny Spinks is not quite 17 and he lives with his mother and father in rural England. He does not understand why his father will not take him to London to formally apprentice him as a silk weaver so he can begin on his journey to becoming a man of means. He is very concerned with titles and his place in the world and he wants to learn a trade so he can away from a father he hates. He doesn’t understand why his father has not allowed him to learn to read and write or why he keeps them buried in the backwater where they live.

Calumny’s father has a very dark past and it manages to find him which leads to a family tragedy. The effects of a visitor from long ago turns Calumny’s life upside down and he finally learns the truth of his father’s life. It forces him to make some hard decisions and learn some equally hard lessons before he reaches his eighteenth birthday.

I do admit to being a touch disappointed that the book wasn’t exactly about the coffee trade but it was an entertaining read. Calumny had to be the luckiest kid in 17th century England though, cause just about every woman he met wanted to take him to bed. Sex notwithstanding the plot involved the removal of James II and the ultimate installation of William and Mary on the throne. The politics of the guilds and the Glorious Revolutions was a bit muddled and if this is your first foray into English history you’ll be hitting the google methinks but the underlying story is a good one full of twists, turns and sword fights.

The characters were for the most part varied and well developed but I couldn’t for the life of me get a handle on Calumny’s father. He was all one note then he’d do something completely crazy and then go back to his normal self. So he confused me. The ending was a little vague too – it seems to be setting up for a second book perhaps? I don’t know if another one is coming I do know that this one kept me fully engaged for a cross country plane ride so I’m always happy with a book that can do that.… (mere)