A Respectable Trade

Philippa Gregory

Feb 2007 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and “queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory comes a story about the devastating consequences of the slave trade in 19th century England.

Bristol in 1787 is booming, a city where power beckons those who dare to take risks. Josiah Cole, a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But he needs capital and a well-connected wife.

Marriage to Frances Scott is a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah's protection, Frances finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, rum, and slaves.

Into her new world comes Mehuru, once a priest in the ancient African kingdom of Yoruba, now a slave in England. From opposite ends of the earth, despite the difference in status, Mehuru and Frances confront each other and their need for love and liberty.

Ratings and reviews

The novel was predictable, contrived and clichéd from beginning to finish; typical boy-meets-girl-fall-in-love-perfect-world plot-base. Of course, I don't claim that it is as simple as that. It is about the slave trade, after all. I have many complaints about this novel: Namely, that Mehuru learned English in a span of weeks, a language so completely different from his native tongues and one of the hardest to learn. He learned it all from a point-and-repeat learning style and apparently just "picked it up". He fit in seemlessly with a world completely different from his own without more than a few complaints. The pregnancy: The protagonist only realizes she's pregnant once she gives birth; something a little odd. It was as if Gregory added it as an after-thought... "Oh yeah, I forgot to add she was pregnant with his child and she NEVER noticed." Completely ridiculous. The love between them could have bloomed, but why? The story was absurd and fell apart towards the end (not that it had anything to hold on to in the beginning). I sensed the book was trying to be "The Book of Negroes" and failed immensely. Published the same year, I'm not sure if I have much of a leg to stand on, but I noted many similarities between Lawrence Hill's book and Gregory's. I did enjoy the book's beginning, but as I said, it felt apart towards the end. In my opinion, Gregory can not write about anything properly after Tudor England (excluding her Wideacre series). She does however, continue to be my favourite historical fiction author, even though this novel was a gigantically epic fail.

About the author

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.