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The Coffee Trader: A Novel (Ballantine…
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The Coffee Trader: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) (original 2003; edition 2004)

by David Liss (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,961728,328 (3.64)185
Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:The Edgar Award??winning novel A Conspiracy of Paper was one of the most acclaimed debuts of the year. In his richly suspenseful second novel, author David Liss once again travels back in time to a crucial moment in cultural and financial history. His destination: Amsterdam, 1659??a mysterious world of trade populated by schemers and rogues, where deception rules the day.

On the world??s first commodities exchange, fortunes are won and lost in an instant. Miguel Lienzo, a sharp-witted trader in the city??s close-knit community of Portuguese Jews, knows this only too well. Once among the city??s most envied merchants, Miguel has lost everything in a sudden shift in the sugar markets. Now, impoverished and humiliated, living on the charity of his petty younger brother, Miguel must find a way to restore his wealth and reputation.

Miguel enters into a partnership with a seduc-tive Dutchwoman who offers him one last chance at success??a daring plot to corner the market of an astonishing new commodity called ??coffee.? To succeed, Miguel must risk everything he values and test the limits of his commercial guile, facing not only the chaos of the markets and the greed of his competitors, but also a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to see him ruined. Miguel will learn that among Amsterdam??s ruthless businessmen, betrayal lurks everywhere, and even friends hide secret agendas.

With humor, imagination, and mystery, David Liss depicts a world of subterfuge, danger, and repressed longing, where religious and cultural traditions clash with the demands of a new and exciting way of doing business. Readers of historical suspense and lovers of coffee (even decaf) will be up all night
… (more)
Member:suzebutch
Title:The Coffee Trader: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Authors:David Liss (Author)
Info:Ballantine Books (2004), 402 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:fiction, netherlands, amsterdam

Work Information

The Coffee Trader by David Liss (2003)

  1. 10
    Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (cransell)
    cransell: Sometimes reading a book about a certain place and time, makes me want to read more about that period. If you are the same, then Girl with a Pearl Earring is a good match for The Coffee Trader.
  2. 10
    Niccolò Rising by Dorothy Dunnett (Limelite)
    Limelite: Earlier in period, but another intrigue-filled historical fiction about the rising mercantile class in the Low Countries.
  3. 00
    The House of Windjammer by V. A. Richardson (jordantaylor)
    jordantaylor: Both books are similar and of equal quality, in my opinion. "House of Windjammer" deals with the tulip trade in 1630's Amsterdam, while "The Coffee Trader" centers around the 1650's coffee trade and general business in Amsterdam. I highly recommend both books.… (more)
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English (68)  Spanish (2)  Dutch (1)  Catalan (1)  All languages (72)
Showing 1-5 of 68 (next | show all)
This book is a prequel of sorts to the author's first book, A Conspiracy of Paper. The main character, Miguel Lienzo, having escaped Spain and the Inquisition, is the trader of the title and an ancestor of the protagonist in the aforementioned first book. Living in Amsterdam, in 1659, with other displaced Jews, he is now able to practice his religion. To ply his trade, he often crosses lines set by the Ma'amad, the group of elected leaders in the Jewish community who set lifestyle rules and protect the community from anyone wishing to do them harm.

Having lost his funds and ruined his reputation in a deal gone wrong, Miguel is forced to live in his brother's flood-prone basement, a bad situation made worse by the enmity between the brothers and by Miguel's growing affection for his brother's wife. So, when a Dutch widow he's befriended wants to partner with him in a scheme to make a fortune in trading the new drink made from coffee berries, Miguel agrees, setting in motion a twisty endeavor full of intrigue and betrayal.

I haven't really read historical fiction set in this time period, so it made for an interesting read. And Lisss's pacing and plot twists kept me turning pages. ( )
  ShellyS | Nov 15, 2023 |
Awesome book. I couldn't wait to find out the ending. If you love historical fiction you will love this. ( )
  CMDoherty | Oct 3, 2023 |
I hate when a good friend recommends a book to you, loans it to you, and then you don't like it. Unfortunately, that was the case this time, and I really don't think I can break it to her.

The story takes place in 17th century Amsterdam and focuses on a merchant, Miguel. Miguel faces a lot of problems - - he's in debt, he lives in his brother's basement, and he has enemies. He needs to make money and based on a tip he receives, he decides that manipulating coffee futures is the way to do it. Coffee futures. Does that sound like an exciting basis for a mystery? I assure you, it is not.

What follows is an incredibly overwraught tale. Every character in the book is truly despicable - LIARS - - the whole lot of them. There is no one to root for. Miguel is the protagonist, but it's not like he's a good guy either. At first you have some sympathy for him, but by the end, you realize he's just as bad as all the rest.

The plot is relentlessly complicated and involves a LOT of financial doings. I'm familiar with stocks, commodities, and futures, but that doesn't mean I find them scintillating and suspenseful. There is a clever plot twist at the end, but it wasn't clever enough to flog through the rest of the book. Not by a long shot. And the whole plotting was so complex that I had to read the last two chapters twice to make sure I really understood the twist.

I actually own Liss' more well known book, A Conspiracy of Paper, and I picked it up and put it right back down because it didn't grab me. Because a friend really wanted me to read The Coffee Trader, I did. But I really wish I hadn't. ( )
  Anita_Pomerantz | Mar 23, 2023 |
NA
  pszolovits | Feb 3, 2021 |
Solid historical fiction--I'd give it three-and-a-half stars if it were an option. Making finance intriguing has got to be as difficult as making sex scenes palatable, yet Liss pulls it off with complicated human characters to boot. ( )
  ChristopherSwann | May 15, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 68 (next | show all)
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Fiction. Suspense. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML:The Edgar Award??winning novel A Conspiracy of Paper was one of the most acclaimed debuts of the year. In his richly suspenseful second novel, author David Liss once again travels back in time to a crucial moment in cultural and financial history. His destination: Amsterdam, 1659??a mysterious world of trade populated by schemers and rogues, where deception rules the day.

On the world??s first commodities exchange, fortunes are won and lost in an instant. Miguel Lienzo, a sharp-witted trader in the city??s close-knit community of Portuguese Jews, knows this only too well. Once among the city??s most envied merchants, Miguel has lost everything in a sudden shift in the sugar markets. Now, impoverished and humiliated, living on the charity of his petty younger brother, Miguel must find a way to restore his wealth and reputation.

Miguel enters into a partnership with a seduc-tive Dutchwoman who offers him one last chance at success??a daring plot to corner the market of an astonishing new commodity called ??coffee.? To succeed, Miguel must risk everything he values and test the limits of his commercial guile, facing not only the chaos of the markets and the greed of his competitors, but also a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to see him ruined. Miguel will learn that among Amsterdam??s ruthless businessmen, betrayal lurks everywhere, and even friends hide secret agendas.

With humor, imagination, and mystery, David Liss depicts a world of subterfuge, danger, and repressed longing, where religious and cultural traditions clash with the demands of a new and exciting way of doing business. Readers of historical suspense and lovers of coffee (even decaf) will be up all night

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