A Respectable Trade
Written by Philippa Gregory
Narrated by Connie Agnew
3.5/5
()
Unavailable in your country
Unavailable in your country
About this audiobook
From the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.
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.
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is the author of many New York Times bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl, and is a recognized authority on women’s history. Many of her works have been adapted for the screen including The Other Boleyn Girl. She graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and was awarded the 2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction. She is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. She was awarded a CBE title for services to literature and charity in 2022. She welcomes visitors to her website PhilippaGregory.com.
More audiobooks from Philippa Gregory
Dawnlands: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tidelands Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tides: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Respectable Trade
Related audiobooks
The Queen's Choice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jacaranda House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stolen Crown: It Was a Secret Marriage--One That Changed the Fate of England Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silver Wolf Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Agincourt Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen’s Rival Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Royal Game Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen’s Lady Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Rose, White Rose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First of the Tudors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time’s Legacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kingdom of Shadows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stone Rose Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Pride of Kings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queen of the North Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To See a Fine Lady Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lion of Mortimer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ghost Tree Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Damask Rose Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lady of the Ravens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scent of Cloves Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tudor Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Restoration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tapestry of Treason Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silken Rose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadow of Persephone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Elizabeth of Bohemia: A Novel about Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Madselin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mill Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Historical Fiction For You
And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Apothecary: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlander Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Weyward: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Reformatory: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The House of Eve Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Lost Names Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alice Network: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Schindler's List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5News of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5West with Giraffes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Let Us Descend: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rules of Magic: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House Is on Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Neon Gods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Respectable Trade
204 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I can accept the romance, I can even almost accept the difficult character of the Frances. But that in such a short time Mehuru could learn to speak nearly perfect English, and teach himself to read, and that while talking his mother tongue frequently, I do not believe.On the other hand, once making the decision to suspend belief it is a good read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very well written book set in late 18th century England. A cautionary tale of getting above your station in life -- reaching for the next social and business rung only to have the entire ladder collapse. Interesting insight into the slave trade and the shipping business of the era. Josiah and Sarah Cole are the owners of a modest fleet of three ships trading small goods. They then bring back some slaves for Josiah's new wife Frances to teach English and turn them into English servants. Would have been better if several of them were sold off, while somehow maintaining Mehuru. Mehuru and Frances become the focal point, with the conclusion of the book being that Frances dies while giving birth to Mehuru's son after they had one night together that got her pregnant.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5"He did not know that for the first time and painfully, Frances was feeling emotions stir and warm into life."Josiah Cole needs cash and a socially connected wife. Frances Scott needs a husband. Once married, they find themselves dependent on sustaining a particular sort of lifestyle in order to keep moving upwards. They overpay for a house, over-furnish the house, all under the resentful eye of Josiah's maiden sister.I know very little about slavery, at any point or place, really. Only after watching Amazing Grace did I know anything about William Wilberforce and the abolitionist movement here in the UK; only after watching and reading The Help did I really know anything about racial politics in 1960s southern USA, plus drawing on reading To Kill a Mockingbird at school (and I'll admit to still not knowing very much). And I know even less about 1780s Bristol, the sugar trade or rum.But I abandoned this after 370 pages out of 500 - so close to the end and yet I did not want to spend more time wasted on these insipid, fearful characters so bent on destroying their own lives.I wanted to like this; I know very little of the topic and feel that I should know more. But I found the characters too irritating and undeserving of more of my time.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I can't believe I read this back in 2008. This is another book I can't stop thinking about. I love Philippa Gregory's Tudor series and have read every single one (except for The Other Queen which I will read soon). I went into this book with high expectations, and I wasn't let down. It's not as good as her Tudor series, but it's still amazing.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I agree that the "romance" really ruined this book. It was unbelievable and trite.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Words can't describe how annoying this book was (although I'm willing to try). I like Philippa Gregory a lot - she reminds me of a historical Jackie Collins. In general, her books are smutty and fun. (Although I'm glad she got the incest out of her system early in her career, 'cause that was a tad creepy.) 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. I wasn't surprised by the plot since the romance was featured prominently on the back cover blurb. I just felt if Frances (the slave trader's wife) was going to go against her society norms and shake off every prejudice she had ever been taught, she needed a little wooing from the object of her affection! At least have him wear some skintight pants and sweat a lot while doing a manly task like woodchopping. (That's how Harlequins do it.) Instead, Mehuru (the slave) walked in the room for about the 7th time in the book and the two were suddenly deeply in love. It was so abrupt (and so odd) I kept checking the page numbers to make sure I hadn't missed some important clue as to what the heck was going on.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Phillipa Gregory does a wonderful job of showing you the horrible world of slave trading and the divisions in society. At times I had to stop reading because I was overwhelmed with horror at what was acceptable behavior for the time. It's a great book and well worth the read. Would be perfect as a book club choice.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not as enjoyable to read as Gregory's other novels. An impoverished "lady" marries beneath herself, to assure her future. Josiah is a small-time trader in Bristol, dealing some in the slave trade. Francis' job as his wife is to teach a group of slaves to speak English and learn how to be proper house servants. Francis falls in love with Mehuru, a very intelligent, cultured African nobleman - now her slave. Explores the politics and culture of slavery in late 18th century England. From this book I learned of William Wilburfurce who led the fight as a mamber of parliament to abolish the slave trade.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While I love Philippa Gregory's storytelling, this was my least favorite of her books. The story is compelling, but I found it to be a little overdone. The ending leaves too much unfinished, almost as if a sequel had been planned but never written. I was never able to sympathize with the main character; she went from uncaring to passionate in what seemed a very artificial way, without much insight into what caused the change. Even though I tore through the book in just two days, I was disappointed when I reached the last page.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I found this difficult to read in places as it describes so well the suffering endured by slaves in the 1700's, but it is an amazing story , quite haunting.