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(More customer reviews)Edgar Award-winning author Edward Liss returns with "The Coffee Trader," another elegantly written historical suspense thriller. In 1659 the bustling port town of Amsterdam was filled with refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, as well as schemers and rogues from all over Europe looking to make some gulden (guilder). The Dutch, after defeating the Spanish, turned their small country into a major economic power in Europe. Amsterdam became the most financially dynamic city in the world, thanks to the robust commercial activity of their commodities exchange, the world's first.
Miguel Lienzo, a Portuguese Jew, escaped the Inquisition on the Iberian peninsula and moved to the much more tolerant Netherlands. He created a home within the city's close-knit Sephardic Jewish community. Sharp-witted, and a bit of a rogue himself, Miguel thrives on the exhilaration of the Dutch bourse, but his trades of late have not gone well. On the brink of financial ruin due to sudden shifts in the sugar market, he enters into a partnership with a seductive, entrepreneurial Dutch widow with an eye for business, Geertruid Damuis. Together they concoct a daring plot to corner the market on a new commodity - coffee. Lienzo's plan has him going up against a powerful enemy, Solomon Parido, who sits on the Ma'amad, the Jewish self-governing body which controls all aspects of community life. Miguel had been betrothed to Parido's daughter, until his unfortunate lack of discretion caused the relationship to end, earning him Parido's lasting enmity. If Lienzo fails, he will not only be ruined but exiled as well...and nothing would please Parido more.
Liss meticulously recreates the 17th century Dutch city. He brings Lienzo's world to life in great detail, as well as the workings of the Amsterdam bourse which are strangely similar to modern commodities markets. The complex, labyrinthine storyline, chock full of intrigue, is really compelling, and his characters are three dimensional in scope. Miguel, actually, is a surprisingly nuanced figure.
I found myself drinking more coffee than usual while reading this novel. Something about the narrative had me smelling freshly ground coffee beans constantly. Imagine a world without Starbucks! One part of "The Coffee Trader" that I really enjoyed, amongst many, is the Europeans' astonished reaction after their first taste of this bitter, stimulating brew, and their realization that fortunes could be made with the beverage. Lienzo even foresees a day when taverns, serving coffee, will spring up on every corner. Imagine that?
JANA
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