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The Coffee Trader

by David Liss (Goodreads Author)

3.68 of 5 stars 3.68 · rating details · 3,337 ratings · 421 reviews

The Edgar Award–winning novel A Conspiracy of Paper was one of the most acclaimed debuts of 2000. 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 th...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published February 3rd 2004 by Ballantine Books (first published November 7th 2002)

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Aug 25, 2012 Bettie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: summer-2012, tbr-busting-2012, hardback, paper-read, one-penny-wonder, historical-fiction, mystery-thriller, published-2003, dutch-root, jewish, portugal, bedside

My particular edition is not available here on Goodreads

1841976024
9781841976020
Hardback
Large Print
Publisher WF Howes Ltd

Withdrawn from Oxfordshire Library Service

Opening: Firmer than water or wine, it rippled thickly in its bowl, dark and hot and uninviting. Miguel Lienzo picked it up and pulled it so close he almost dipped his nose into the tarry liquid.

Went from complete distaste to tepid enjoyment, however it never rose above that level. Not recommended.

1.5*

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Mar 16, 2013 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This was an interesting thriller/historical fiction novel about Amsterdam's commodities exchange in the late 1600s. The main character Miguel Lienzo took refuge in The Netherlands after living as a Secret Jew in Portugal where the force of the Inquisition had become too great a threat. Although Miguel was initially successful in Amsterdam’s markets, the novel begins with him juggling debts to his self-righteous brother as well as others in the community. Having lost his fortune in the sugar mark...more

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Sep 28, 2007 Sariah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historicalfiction

For the most part I really enjoyed reading The Coffee Trader by David Liss. The main protagonist is Miguel, a Portuguese Jew, living in Amsterdam, and working as a broker in the emerging stock exchange. Miguel and a Dutch woman, Geertruid, scheme to corner the coffee market. Hampering there efforts are Solomon Parido, a wealthy member of the Jewish community, who harbors a grudge against Miguel, and Joachim Waagenaar, a Dutchman who lost everything in a financial deal Miguel brokered for him. Jo...more For the most part I really enjoyed reading The Coffee Trader by David Liss. The main protagonist is Miguel, a Portuguese Jew, living in Amsterdam, and working as a broker in the emerging stock exchange. Miguel and a Dutch woman, Geertruid, scheme to corner the coffee market. Hampering there efforts are Solomon Parido, a wealthy member of the Jewish community, who harbors a grudge against Miguel, and Joachim Waagenaar, a Dutchman who lost everything in a financial deal Miguel brokered for him. Joachim holds Miguel responsible for his financial losses and harasses Miguel throughout most of the novel.

One of the interesting things about the story is as Miguel schemes and plots to corner the market in coffee trading, he sees schemes and plots being hatched against him, which causes him to misinterpret the actions of others. Another interesting things about the novel is that most of the characters are either manipulating someone, or being manipulated in turn. This contrasts nicely with all the manipulation going on at the Exchange.

I found the references to the Ma'amad, the Jewish self-governing body controlling all aspects of community life, interesting. Many of the Ma’amad’s rules stem from residual fear of the Inquisition, and the expulsions from other European countries. Amsterdam has only recently become a safe place for Jews to live and the Ma’amad fears having too much contact with the Dutch. So, even though they are free to practice their religion in Amsterdam, the Ma’amad has forbidden the Jewish community from having close contact with the Dutch/gentile community. Keeping this in mind, I found the number of Jews with Dutch servants a bit puzzling. Miguel spends a great deal of time worry that another Jew will seem him talking to his Dutch associates, yet he sleeps with the Dutch maid in his brother’s house. Liss never makes it clear if the Ma’amad has forbidden all contact with gentiles (which would then make the Dutch servants against the rules) or if the injunction is specifically referring to brokering, or doing business with them.

I was a little unhappy with the way the book portrayed women. There are only 3 important women in the novel. Hannah, Miguel’s sister-in-law, while an interesting character, spends most of the novel victimized by her maid and ignored by her husband (she finally stand up for herself at the end of the novel but by then I had come to find her passivity annoying). Geertruid, Miguel’s business partner, is supposed to be “mysteries” but I guessed fairly quickly what the big mystery was (or at least I’d figured out where she got her money for the coffee trade rather quickly). Hannah’s maid, a rather nasty piece of work, lacks any real motive. Time and again I asked myself why is she behaving that way? Only Liss never offers an explanation, so the reader is forced to assume her behavior stems from jealousy or spite. At the end of the novel Geertruid’s actions are not at all believable; she is way to forgiving. These women seem to lack (or have really weak) motivations. I realize that in a novel set in the 1650s you won’t find any “modern” women, but Liss could have done a better job of making the ones he had more three dimensional. Geertruid’s only motivation seems to be money, Hannah has no motivation at all (she is acted upon and then reacts), and the maid is cruel, end of story.

But this is really a small complaint since most of the book concerns Miguel and his attempts to get rich on the Exchange. All together this was a pretty good book and I recommend it to anyone interested in 17th Century history.(less)

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Apr 04, 2013 Kirsten McKeown rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Multiply the business plotting of "Mad Men" by 10, put it into a Vermeer painting, take away the brandy snifters at working lunches and insert a mysteriously alluring brew called "coffee,"--and voila, you have the beginning scenes to a masterpiece stock exchange mystery set in Amsterdam in the 1600s. If you have read the Benjamin Weaver series by David Liss, this book predates those London hijinks--showcasing his father's fortunes as a Portuguese Jewish trader exiled by the Inquisition. Miguel h...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Will rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: food-writing, thrillers

This book is one of the best I have read, however I will say it fit my tastes as well if not better than any book I have picked up in a long, long time.
I enjoy the markets, love coffee, and these two interests played out very well in this story.

It's a historical look at the markets, and if you don't understand puts, calls, you may not enjoy as much. If you are a commodities trader I think you will be thrilled by this book.

However there is some anti semitic history in this book based on the perio...more

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Jan 21, 2009 D.w. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, reviewed

This is a very strong book to read. By that, this book has depth. As a historical novel, you want some glimpse into the world as it was so that you leave with some factual understanding of that period admidst the fiction. In Coffee Trader you learn a great deal about Amsterdam, the center of finance in the 1600's.

You also learn of the flourishing jewish community free of the inquisition and how that atrocious institution changed the attitudes of the people it persecuted to a degree. This is han...more

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Mar 22, 2013 David Harris rated it 4 of 5 stars

* Good mix of history and fiction, April 27, 2004 *

I can't comment on the accuracy of the historic data about either the city of Amsterdam or the stock market, but as one who has had some personal experience, if very limited, with both in modern times, I found all Liss's observations quite interesting. I felt this background (the Dutch national character, their attitude toward and interactions with foreigners, the Jewish communities and their attitudes toward each other and toward their Dutch ho...more * Good mix of history and fiction, April 27, 2004 *

I can't comment on the accuracy of the historic data about either the city of Amsterdam or the stock market, but as one who has had some personal experience, if very limited, with both in modern times, I found all Liss's observations quite interesting. I felt this background (the Dutch national character, their attitude toward and interactions with foreigners, the Jewish communities and their attitudes toward each other and toward their Dutch hosts, etc.) added a lot to an already interesting story of intrigue.

I have only a basic understanding of futures (as I understand it, 'puts' and 'calls' are, respectively, options to buy or sell a stock you won't actually ever hold at a pre-determined price within a time frame decided upon at the time the put or call is purchased, and that 'options' and 'futures' are just alternative terms for the same thing, the original purpose of such being to iron out wrinkles in the commodities markets which cause hardship on the farmer or other small-scale producer of these goods). I had no idea they were already so well entrenched in the financial markets way back in the 1600s.

Even though I have very little interest in business as a way to pursue a living, I find the mechanics of rising and falling prices and how people decide what to buy and what to sell and how this affects the market as a whole to be quite interesting phenomena. This book gave me an interesting look at how this may have worked in earlier times, and it makes me want to learn more about how markets work today.

As a novel, the book was also quite successful. I liked how Liss included an occasional chapter from the perspective of a second character. This character's personality and motivations remain somewhat murky until the end, making for an effective way to draw out the intrigue.

The only thing I really didn't like about the book was that, in the end, I didn't feel like there had really been any good guys aside from a couple of minor characters. Maybe that's just the way the world was then. God knows most people in our own age have plenty of ulterior motives for most of what they do, but one likes to think (at least I like to think) that most people (including all or most protagonists of novels) have a basic sense of fairness and justice that defines their interactions with other human beings. But maybe that's just a pipe dream.(less)

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Mar 21, 2013 TeacherMrLoria rated it 2 of 5 stars

Cool facts.

In 1723 a young officer in the Grench army, Gabriel Mathie de Clieu, carried one precious coffee plant in a glass-framed box as he headed for duty in Martinique. His ship was becalmed for many days in the mid-Atlantic, meeting a water shortage for the entire voyage. For more than a month de Clieu shared his frugal ration of life-giving water with the frail coffee tree. Arriving finally in Martinique, the Frenchman planted his treasure among some protective thorn bushes. By the beginn...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Lex rated it 2 of 5 stars

The novel moved so s...l...o...w! The build-up was slow, the story didn't take off until you were halfway through the book, and the climax was short and not worth the wait. The ending was predictable, except one small part that left me with my mouth literally hanging open, and the entire novel was over my head in terms and chattering about business, money, and commerce.
Miguel, a Jew merchant in Amsterdam, has recently struck out on the Exchange when his sugar deal went bad. Now, he's back in ac...more

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May 09, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers, mystery

never intended to return to David Liss so soon. No doubt, A Conspiracy of Paper was phenomenal -- but I have two Bernard Cornwell novels just awaiting to be read! There's something compelling about Liss' genre, though: I've never encountered a thriller set in the business world before, let alone one steeped in the exciting history of Age of Discovery-era Europe. The Coffee Trader is another contribution to that setting, though here Liss moves to Amsterdam, where young Miguel Lienzo -- the uncle...more never intended to return to David Liss so soon. No doubt, A Conspiracy of Paper was phenomenal -- but I have two Bernard Cornwell novels just awaiting to be read! There's something compelling about Liss' genre, though: I've never encountered a thriller set in the business world before, let alone one steeped in the exciting history of Age of Discovery-era Europe. The Coffee Trader is another contribution to that setting, though here Liss moves to Amsterdam, where young Miguel Lienzo -- the uncle of Conspiracy's main character Ben -- is facing bankruptcy. But a spirited, ambitious, and altogether attractive widow has an idea for waking Europe to the wonders of coffee...and if Miguel is fleet-footed enough, he may yet rise from ruins to riches.

Schemes carry the day here. Miguel is only one of five duplicitous characters playing the exchange, and each have their own private desires and hidden plans. Some, like Miguel and the woman, are allies; others, like Solomon Parido, a leader of the Jewish community, count themselves as Miguel's rivals. Their schemes all interact with one another, like wheels within wheels, but no one can truly say in which direction the wheels are spinning..or what ends they may accomplish. Although The Coffee Trader isn't used by Liss to comment on an issue (unlike Conspiracy and Ethical Assassin), the mystery stands on its own. The setting is fascinating Lienzo is a Portuguese exile, a refugee from the Inquisition, and he and many other Jews have taken refuge in Amsterdam. Determined to avoid outside persecution, faithful Jews voluntarily submit to the authority of the Ma'amad, a somewhat heavy-handed council with the power to discipline members. Among many other things, it forbids Jews from doing business with 'Gentiles'. Parido sits on this council, and Miguel secretly defies it by allying himself with the widow. Parido has his own secrets to hide from the council, and the two of them play a kind of chess match throughout, attempting to out-maneuver the other both outwardly (using the threat of the Ma'amad's power) and subtly, through playing with the markets Eventually all comes to head in the Exchange itself, though by this point it's clear there's more going on than either man is aware of.

All in all, The Coffee Trader was quite well done, one to savor. My library doesn't have any more Liss books, other than a fantasy he's written, so I'll be looking for them online in the coming months.(less)

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Mar 15, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Admit it, we all drink a little too much coffee. We're all pretty well acquainted with that niggling headache around 2 o'clock if you'd made it that long without a cup, and most of us at one point or another have used it to cure a nasty hangover. Besides the TV and the microwave, the coffeemaker is a staple of the American home.
David Liss's fast-paced conspiracy novel centers around the induction of coffee into European culture as "the drink of commerce." The book reads like a long night with a...more Admit it, we all drink a little too much coffee. We're all pretty well acquainted with that niggling headache around 2 o'clock if you'd made it that long without a cup, and most of us at one point or another have used it to cure a nasty hangover. Besides the TV and the microwave, the coffeemaker is a staple of the American home.
David Liss's fast-paced conspiracy novel centers around the induction of coffee into European culture as "the drink of commerce." The book reads like a long night with a little too much caffeine- always interesting, but sometimes it would be better to just go back to bed. The cast of characters is colorful and well-developed, but the whole story just tries a bit too hard.
The story opens on Amsterdam in 1659, the amazingly tolerant center of capitalism and the site of the Exchange. Our protagonist, Miguel Lienzo, is a Portuguese immigrant and a Converso-- a Secret Jew, one who outwardly professes Catholicism and keeps his faith in private. He joins in business with a crafty widow named Geertruid Damhuis in a complex plot to make an enormous fortune from imported coffee. As the book progresses, we meet Miguel's neurotic brother Daniel, and discover his wife Hannah is infatuated with Miguel. A complicated web of characters, including the annoyingly peripheral Alonzo Alferonda, try to ruin Miguel's plans as the book progresses and every situation tries to frustrate his fortune-to-be.
Miguel Lienzo is an extremely well-developed character. We spend most of the book following him through his various debts, threats, and exchanges, cheering him on and learning more of who he is each time he interacts with someone. By the end of the book, we become so attached to him that we can hardly see what he's become, which is deliciously conflicting (and the only plot twist that affected me, honestly). Where many writers try too hard to give their characters foibles and faults, Miguel fills himself out into a full human being, and we become attached to him almost immediately, when he petulantly comments to Geertruid that coffee looks like "the devil's piss."
The Coffee Trader begins brilliantly, describing the colorful and often underrated Dutch capital in the lurching era between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. We soon learn how wonderful a haven Amsterdam is for the Jews-- with no fear of the Inquisition, they can keep their faith to themselves but not fear constant uprooting and death. However, we also learn to be nervous of the power of the Ma'amad, their council of Portuguese Jews, and its crafty politics. Liss presents us with a world that begs to be further explored, from the wild trades on the Exchange to the grimy alleys near the canals.
Although Liss is a talented writer, he disappoints in the overall tidiness of this story. It is a conspiracy book, fast-paced and convoluted, but there are just one too many plot twists-- it becomes hard to see how the beginning unites with the end, and the characters resemble something like debris caught up in a twister. We can just keep track of all the complicated names (like Annetje, Joachim, Alferonda, or Crispjin) when Liss throws another betrayal at us, sending our opinion of that character spinning out of control. The trouble with betrayals is that we have to be attached to the character before it really affects us-- and with so many names and personalities to remember, each one becomes more expected and less upsetting.
The whole book is well-written, the language displaying Liss's easy command over the world of literature. The perspectives alternate between Miguel, Alferonda, and Hannah, giving us a full perspective on the wild world of capitalism and brutal trade. However, Alferonda disappoints for being such a central character to the work. His chapters are annoyingly self-centered, which makes the case that he is a narcissist and helps to develop his character, but does a poor job of placing him in the story. I understand Liss wanting to keep the secrets until the end of the book, but it might have been better to either leave out his "memoirs" entirely or give a little more context into the entire of the book.
Nevertheless, The Coffee Trader is a good read. At 384 pages in the hardback, it's a decent-length read, just enough to make people in Starbucks think that you're clever and deter them from interrupting you. (It becomes a far more interesting read when you have a huge mug of coffee in hand.) The historical context is well researched, and opens the historical-fiction regulars outside of the traditional box of European novels about the 17th century. It's not often that you come across a book that focuses so well on trade in a sphere outside of England or France. Here's to hoping that The Coffee Trader won't be the only one about the subject.(less)

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Oct 30, 2010 Tim rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Coffee Trader is a wonderful story of intrigue set on the exchange in 17th century Amsterdam. I would recommend the novel purely on its ability to draw the reader into this very specific historical setting, the world of Portuguese immigrant Jews living in this cosmopolitan trading community. Likewise, I would recommend it to any finance geeks for its detailed descriptions of how the Dutch markets functioned.

Going beyond its standing as historical fiction, however, the novel presents a fabul...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Probably some spoilers in here for those intent on reading the book. The Coffee Trader provides a wonderful historical setting - Amsterdam in 1659. It involves the commodity exchange, the Portguese Jewish community escaped from the Inquisition and becoming prosperous among the Dutch, and the first arrival of coffee. The descriptions of coffee and its usefulness for business are wonderful (and made me go and prepare a thick cup of joe for myself). Miguel Lienzo, once bankrupted is trying to rema...more

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Apr 17, 2009 Richard rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was fantastic on so many levels. Liss does an excellent job portraying 17th century Amsterdam, providing a view of a culture that has been considered famously tolerant - and shows the limit of that tolerance. This is an issue that has been famously re-examined recently, about how the Dutch really behaved during The War. And in the past decade, that famous tolerance has been stretched to the limit with the wave of Arab/Muslim immigrants. It's an issue that the Dutch have had to deal wit...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Booklady rated it 5 of 5 stars

An excellent book recommended by a fellow book club member. It is set in 1659 Amsterdam and is about how coffee was brought to America. The businessmen and traders in London and Europe established coffee houses as opposed to taverns because coffee sobered the mind of man. Beer and wine had been the former beverage of business transactions. The descriptions of the market where the commodities were traded daily are vivid and alive with intrigue and deception. I felt as if I was there in Amsterdam...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Marcy rated it 5 of 5 stars

With all my other obligations lately, I have been so tired that I have not been up to my usual readable self...

The Coffee Trader is keeping me engaged! During this story, Amsterdam has already emerged as the center of the world's trade, attracting merchants from every land of importance. This is the story of Miguel, and many other characters of Jewish decent, who escaped to Amsterdam from many countries for religious freedom. Amsterdam drew these immigrants into the trade and commodities busines...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

This book was a little bit of many things: historical fiction, business, thriller, romance... It centers on a merchant in 17th-century Amsterdam during the first commodities exchange. The setting is fascinating, as the author captures a sense of daily life trading in the exchange while highlighting the lives of displaced Portuguese Jewish people. The struggle of the main character to balance his religious and cultural heritage with his career and life in Amsterdam plays a large role in the story...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Erin added it

(Thanks to Kennedy for the recommendation!) Earthy,engaging historical novel. Miguel Lienzo,a Portugese Jew living in Amsterdam in the 1600s makes his living buying and selling on the Exchange. An encounter with a Dutch widow involves him in the early moments of the coffee trade. My eyes tended to cross a bit during the descriptions of the machinations of trading, but the intricacies of plot and subplot kept me turning the pages. I especially enjoyed Liss' portrayal of the lives of the exiled Co...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Anachronist rated it 5 of 5 stars

What I liked:

It is my second David Liss novel and I'm admiring this writer more and more. Liss meticulously recreates the 17th century Dutch city of Amsterdam fully based on historical documents – really it seems that the author completed exhaustive research if you only consult the list of his sources, provided at the beginning of the book. He brings Lienzo's world to life in great detail, as well as the workings of the bourse which are indeed very similar to modern commodities markets (but fort...more What I liked:

It is my second David Liss novel and I'm admiring this writer more and more. Liss meticulously recreates the 17th century Dutch city of Amsterdam fully based on historical documents – really it seems that the author completed exhaustive research if you only consult the list of his sources, provided at the beginning of the book. He brings Lienzo's world to life in great detail, as well as the workings of the bourse which are indeed very similar to modern commodities markets (but fortunately there is no trade of whale oil anymore - shudder, poor whales).

The complex storyline, chock full of intrigue, is really compelling but, what’s even more praiseworthy, the author didn’t repeat the scheme from his first, very successful book – no murder mystery here, only coffee, business and some romance as well. The characters are as three-dimensional as I like: Miguel, actually, is a surprisingly nuanced figure but also Alonzo the usurer and Hannah, the wife of Miguel’s brother, Daniel, contribute greatly to the story showing how Jewish immigrants were treated by Dutch people and their compatriots as well. It seems that being Jewish in Amsterdam during the Golden Age was extremely difficult for more than one reason. For instance, Miguel must be careful not to scorn the Ma'amad, the restrictive and mysterious governing body of the Jewish community. He must also be wary not to conduct business with the Gentiles, something extremely forbidden during the mid-1650s. Hannah has to wear demure black clothes and she cannot go out without her head veiled although Dutch women, married or not, parade along undisturbed in provocative, bejewelled caps and colourful dresses. Her husband doesn't want her to learn how to read and write although Jewesses coming from the East are allowed to do so.

I was also delighted by the fact that the author didn’t avoid tensions inside the Jewish community itself, between Jews coming from the Southern and Eastern Europe. In short all events are portrayed quite realistically. In fact, a couple of secondary characters suffer badly from unintended consequences of Miguel’s shadowy actions - it adds a subtle but gritty moral note which plenty of other historical novels lack. I even cherished the fact that for most of the time Miguel doesn't exactly know who to trust. In some ways his uncomfortable position emulates very well the risks that investors take today in dealing with high finance (but bear with me - no matter how boring it might sound to you I studied economics after all).

Finally there's also something very readable about the prose style. Although the plot is hardly easy to follow you simply don’t want to put this book down until the very end. Two POVs (well, in fact even threes if you count some short glimpses of Hannah's world) make it even more interesting.

What I didn’t like:

I wouldn’t call it a serious drawback but I have to mention it - the main character, Miguel Lienzo. A well-rounded, real-life hero, I admit it, but not exactly very likeable. Let’s face it – as a protagonist he has very few redeeming qualities - he is charming and handsome and well...ambitious...

I fully understand him being an embodiment of a businessman of any age - a man who would lie, steal, cheat, plot, deceive, gamble and hoodwink if only it might bring him some profit – but, in the end, you are not exactly sure whether you want him to succeed or not. How can you fully sympathize with somebody who, even if only for a moment or two, seriously considered killing his own brother (no matter how obnoxious) in order to run away with his pregnant sister-in-law and yet, at the same time, never wasted any occasion to screw (there is no nicer word for it) any pretty young maid in his proximity or to visit a whore? I know, I am speaking from a rather female point of view…I bet plenty of guys would find nothing wrong with this perfectly realistic behaviour but still I can’t easily condone it.

By the way I wonder whether we really deal here with the uncle of Benjamin from The Conspiracy of Paper - the same surname but I am not completely sure as other facts don't exactly match.

Final verdict:

Overall a very intelligent reading. If you are a coffee fanatic like myself and you like good historical fiction with a dash of finance and trade then by all means go out and get yourself a copy of The Coffee Trader. Just don’t forget to brew or buy yourself some coffee too – believe me, you will crave it even more. If people at Starbucks knew their business they would sell this book along with their drinks.
(less)

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Jan 05, 2009 narajaponesa rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Manateestarz, Seaslug51

Recommended to narajaponesa by: Michael Wright

Shelves: read-out-loud-with-awesome-husband

This is where the rating scale for Goodreads is not quite right. I acknowledge that this is a really good book that I liked slightly less than it deserves, only because there were parts of the story (ie, finance) that I really didn't care for. Hence the 3 stars instead of 4. Still, it's a well-told and well-researched tale about 17th-century Amsterdam that got way better as it went along. Oh, and yes, the characters are all pretty schmucky. Live it, love it.

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Dec 07, 2008 Christa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

The Coffee Trader is the first book I have read by David Liss. I enjoyed reading about the Amsterdam commodities exchange of the 1600's. The main character, Miguel Lienzo, a trader who has recently had a run of bad fortune on the exchange, envisions a means of gaining riches and finds that he is not quite a astute at judging character as he believed. There are twists in the book as Miguel decides who he can trust and who is plotting against him. The story is interesting, but I didn't find most o...more

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Jun 02, 2009 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, read-and-swapped-books, historical-fiction

Amsterdam was a thriving financial metropolis during the 17th century, tolerant of many people, religions and beliefs and stood apart from other countries regarding the inquisition. Yet, they were still backwards in their thought of womenn

For example a man held a grudge against the main character, Miguel because he blames him for his daughter giving birth to a 'slow' child. Apparently Miguel shocked her into having a 'slow' child and will always give birth to slow children as a result. Slyly, it...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Lorri rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: personally-own, historical-fiction, novels, jewish-fiction

The Coffee Trader, by David Liss, is a book of intrigue and an absorbing historical novel.

I became so wrapped up in the historical aspect that I felt as if I had gone back in time and place. My senses were infused with Liss’ extremely detailed prose. With his strong word-imagery, Liss transports the reader to Seventeenth Century Amsterdam. It is the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition, and the Dutch city is streaming with Jews who fled Spain. In fact, many others, from all over Europe have come...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group-reads, fiction

Sometimes I'm wrong about a book though I hate to admit it. I was almost 100 pages into The Coffee Trader and moaning that I wasn't enjoying the read but had to finish it as it was a book group choice. I knuckled down finally and was pleasantly surprised when very quickly the story just popped off the pages. When all was said and done I thoroughly relished the book, even going back to re-read parts of the beginning.

I honestly think what threw me is that The Coffee Trader is about commodity trad...more Sometimes I'm wrong about a book though I hate to admit it. I was almost 100 pages into The Coffee Trader and moaning that I wasn't enjoying the read but had to finish it as it was a book group choice. I knuckled down finally and was pleasantly surprised when very quickly the story just popped off the pages. When all was said and done I thoroughly relished the book, even going back to re-read parts of the beginning.

I honestly think what threw me is that The Coffee Trader is about commodity trading. This concept muddles my mind. Don't ask me how the stock exchange works cause it blows my mind. The Coffee Trader takes place in an exchange, albeit in mid-1600's in Amsterdam, and its coffee, not cash, but trading none-the-less.

The main character, Miquel is seeking to make his fortune in a scheme to corner the market on this new wondrous product of coffee. He enters into partnership with a mysterious woman, Geertruid and tries to keep the venture secret from his brother, Daniel and the villain of the story, Solomon Parido, a wealthy member of the Amsterdam Jewish community and the Ma Maad, The Portuguese Jewish community plays a large role in the whole and brings about happenings that would otherwise not be if not for the religion and culture. Though there are other vivid characters, none appealed to as much as Joachim Waagenaar, a gentile and Dutchman who loses all, his money, standing, face, in a deal with Miquel.

There are twists and turns in abundance and the outcome tickled me except for one aspect.

I enjoyed reading the author's note that explains his use of coffee vs. tulips or art to set the tone of trading in Dutch commerce of the mid 1600's. Also, I love this quote by character Miquel:

"He loved the money that came with success, but loved the power more".

How true of many powerful persons.

I'm so glad our group chose The Coffee Trader for this month's discussion and I'm really glad I stuck with it. A solid historical read. Now it's time for a cup of coffee. (less)

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Mar 09, 2013 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Because this is a group read book for the month of March, I will review and rate at a later date.
It is now a later date. This book was well written with few errors of any kind. The authors writes about the introduction of coffee to Europe. Once Europeans got a taste of coffee, it spread like wildfire. This book is set in Amsterdam at the exchange, or stock market. Miguel and his business partner, Geertruid, attempt to manipulate the coffee market which was just beginning to open up on the marke...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Allie Whiteley rated it 4 of 5 stars

This isn't quite on a par with A Conspiracy of Paper (his first book), but it very nearly is. The action focuses on the grandfather of Benjamin Weaver (the central character in the aforementioned novel), Miguel Lienzo, a Portuguese Jew living in Amsterdam. At the opening of the novel (May 1659) he is seemingly on the verge of ruin and survives only because of the charity of his brother Daniel, in whose cellar he lodges. But then he gets wind of a wondrous new drink called coffee and it seems as...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Ht rated it 4 of 5 stars

david liss created a vivid and intriquing story of intrique set in the financial center of seventieth century amsterdam. unlike much of europe, the dutch welcomed jewish taders into this market, which according to the author's historical note, served as the birthplace of stock and commoditiy trading and surprising to me, the advent of the risky gambling on futures. the deciet and deception the various characters practice in their professional, religous and social lives kept the narrative moving....more

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Aug 20, 2012 Brielle rated it 2 of 5 stars

A friend lent this book to me. If she hadn't included it in a stack of books, I would never have picked it up. As it was, I almost put it down as abandoned many times during reading. The only thing that kept me going to the end was the thought that I would have to say something about it when I returned the book!
The story takes place in Amsterdam in the 1700s. It's about the "exchange," basically the ancestor of Wall Street. So everyone's lying and conniving and making wagers based on rumors and...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Lynne King rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: disappointed

This book was recommended to me. The cover looked good, there were very good reviews and I loved the blurb, plus I also love coffee with a passion. So it was with great impatience that I started reading this book.

I just didn't like it. I don't know if it was the style of writing, but it was just words to me and I started skim-reading. I thought surely there is something here that I've missed?

I enjoyed the personalities of Miguel and Geertruid but that was all and was more than happy when I had...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Marilee rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found it difficult to sustain my interest in this book. It's sat by my reading chair for weeks, with my reading only a dozen or so pages at a sitting. Why? Because so much of the story turns on oppressive religious behaviors and attitudes, in this case, a shadowy Jewish group. I was interested in the nascent coffee trade and some of the peripheral characters if not the main protagonist, but not enough to slog through. Part of the problem I had with the book is my personal impatience with peopl...more

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About David Liss

I am a novelist living in San Antonio, Texas, though, for the record, I am not from Texas. I just live here. I have four novels published: A Conspiracy of Paper (which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel) and A Spectacle of Corruption were both national bestsellers. They are set in 18th century London and feature Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former pugilist, thief-taker for hire. Weaver will be...more

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Books by David Liss

A Conspiracy of Paper (Benjamin Weaver, #1)

The Devil's Company (Benjamin Weaver, #3)

A Spectacle of Corruption (Benjamin Weaver, #2)

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