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The Coffee Trader

David Liss

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Jan 07, 2024 Olivermagnus rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2024, historical-mystery, zjan-2024

Set in Amsterdam in 1659, The Coffee Trader throws readers into the early commodities market. Miguel Lienzo is one of the traders, but now down on his luck having lost a fortune in the sugar market. When he is introduced to coffee by a very mysterious woman, she urges him to concoct a bold plan to get rich by cornering the market and introducing this relatively unknown brew to Europeans.

There are two primary groups of traders who tend to have little to do with one another. There are the Dutch tr Set in Amsterdam in 1659, The Coffee Trader throws readers into the early commodities market. Miguel Lienzo is one of the traders, but now down on his luck having lost a fortune in the sugar market. When he is introduced to coffee by a very mysterious woman, she urges him to concoct a bold plan to get rich by cornering the market and introducing this relatively unknown brew to Europeans.

There are two primary groups of traders who tend to have little to do with one another. There are the Dutch traders who communicate in Dutch and relatively keep to themselves. Then there is a large number of mainly Spanish and Portuguese Jews who communicate in Spanish and/or Portuguese and have relatively little to do with the Dutch.

The dominant power player within the Jewish community is the Ma’amed, a Jewish council that watches over the orthodoxy of Jews and can banish any who do not carefully conform to Jewish law as they see it.

There are lots and lots of characters. So many that I felt like I needed to make notes on them. Another issue was the names of the characters, whether they were Dutch, Jewish, or Spanish. The huge cast of characters are all quite flawed and fairly unlikable, willing to bend and break rules in their own self interest.

Liss weaves intricate stories of family ties, betrayals, money and Judaism, all told through splendid research. This book also makes many references to the Portuguese Inquisition, whose main target were those who converted from Judaism and Catholicism, but were still suspected of secretly practicing Judaism.

There are multiple plots in this story and the novel is steeped in authentic atmosphere. Liss explores the world of Amsterdam at the height of its trading power which was quite different from most novels set in this time have dealt with art and painters. I liked how the author wove religion into the story without being preachy or dogmatic. I found a lot of the arcane system of early futures trading was confusing but it didn't detract from the beautiful writing, incredible atmosphere, and Liss's knowledge of Jewish law and customs. ...more

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