By David Liss
This earlier work of the author of the excellent novel, The Coffee Trader (TCT) provides fascinating incites into 18th Century England, its customs, mores, clothing, and the appalling conditions in which most lived. We, who sometimes think that the 20th and early 21st Centuries leave much to be desired, will see herein that the most impecunious among us live like kings of a few hundred years ago.
The plot, while interesting, is a bit far fetched, hence not as gripping as his TCT. The lead character, Benjamin Weaver, is a likable Brit, of Jewish extraction, who has an entertaining slant on his dilemma (being convicted of a murder that he didn’t commit in a court more corrupt than we can imagine). Few, if any, history books will reveal an era in all its raw reality to the degree of a novel like this. David Liss is always worth reading.