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THE COFFEE TRADER is the story of a Portuguese Jew, Miguel Lienzo, who lives in the 17th century immigrant Jewish community of Amsterdam. He had escaped the Inquisition in Portugal by posing as a Christian, and now he lives by his wits trading commodities. As the story starts Miguel had just lost his fortune and was forced to live in his brother Daniel¹s house, in the basement. His creditors were becoming impatient, but he managed to put them off as he tried to think of a way to remake his fortune. An acquaintance, a Dutch woman, brings Miguel a business proposition. She will back him if he finds a way to make a killing on "coffee fruit," an exotic bean little known to Europeans in 1659. Miguel is tempted by the prospect and promises to think about becoming her partner. But once he tastes the coffee bean he becomes an immediate devotee. He realizes its possibilities and he dedicates himself to the business venture. Miguel is soon immersed in a fast river of intricate deals and desperate businessmen. He knows he must keep his new business opportunity quiet for he has made many an enemy, both in business and in his private life. Adding to his problem is the fact that he is going against the dictates of the Ma'amad, the powerful ruling council of the Jewish Community of Amsterdam. The Ma'amad was very well aware that Amsterdam was one of the few places in Europe where Jews were free to live and worship according to their religion. Sensitive to the harsh judgment by the outside world and the fear that those freedoms would become too great a threat to its members, the Ma'amad inflicted strict regulations upon the Jewish people in Amsterdam. Because Miguel secretly goes against its rules by doing business with non-Jews, Miguel is always one step away from the sentence of excommunication from his community. David Liss, the author of THE COFFEE TRADER, fills the book with historical details. The descriptions of the period and culture are skillfully done and he manages to create the world of the 17th Century well. But the use of intrigue and double-dealings, making this work into a thriller, becomes far too confusing. It might be better explained in the book, but as the CD raced on, as hard as I tried to catch the explanation on how fortunes were made and lost in a moment while trading commodities, I could never understand how the characters were instantly made poor or wealthy. Lies and falsehoods, greed and ruthlessness seem to be the rule of the day and because no person in this story ever told the truth, I couldn¹t understand why anyone would take anyone¹s word on any matter. Also, by telling the readers early on that Miguel would be successful in his coffee venture Liss took a lot of the tension out of the story. Finally I gave up trying to understand all of the business matters and because of that, much of what was left of my enjoyment of the story fell to the wayside. When Miguel first indulges in coffee, he is enthralled by its wonders. The writer then outlines the seemingly unending magical ability of the coffee fruit to bring about mental acuity and increase the energy of the drinker. But since this rare amazing brew bears little resemblance to the coffee that I drink in the morning, I found this to be a fatal weakness in the story. Graeme Malcolm, the narrator of this audio book did a fine job in changing voices to let the listener know who was speaking. The lower class people had course British accents, but the lead characters, all originally from Portugal or Spain, relocated to Amsterdam to speak Dutch, had a strange concoction of an accent. Each character, even the ones who shared a similar background, had different accents that to my ears, didn¹t have the sound of any known European language. I have to say the beginning of the story pulled me in. David Liss created a detailed life of people in the 17th century that interested and charmed me. But as the story progressed and I came to see that every single character in the book was a liar and major manipulator of everyone else, with no qualms about cheating friend or family, God or religion, I found myself losing interest in any machinations of the plot. By the end, my disgust with all the people inside its pages made me resent the time I lost spent listening to this book. If at the end of the day, your motto is ³Greed is good² then this book is for you. If your morals are found elsewhere, you might do well to pass on this audio book.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, April 2003
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