A Respectable Trade

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If your view of Philippa Gregory is of an English historical novelist with a romantic slant, that is a fair description. Philippa Gregory shows all sides while keeping it balanced, explaining the mechanics of the trade in the 1700s and why people entered into it, even when they had their doubts. Mehru, a leader in his own country, managed to fall in love with the women who owned him, permitted him to be whipped, and eventually agrees to sell him.

A Respectable Trade[19/04/98] (1998) | BFI A Respectable Trade[19/04/98] (1998) | BFI

However, a plot development had been signalled very early on, and the final chapters sacrifice much for this particular plotline.And most interestingly, Sarah, proud of her independence and financial partnership with Josiah, is crushed when he forces her to stay cooped up with Frances and become a “lady. Read all The devastating consequences of the slave trade in 18th century Bristol are explored through the powerful but impossible attraction of well-born Frances and her Yoruban slave, Mehuru. Our features are original articles from our print magazines (these will say where they were originally published) or original articles commissioned for this site.

A Respectable Trade - Where to Watch and Stream - TV Guide A Respectable Trade - Where to Watch and Stream - TV Guide

She had no notion of Africa before the coming of the British, of a huge continent populated by a complex of different peoples and kingdoms, of trading and barter stations, of caravans of goods which crossed from one nation to another; of men and women, some living like peasants working the land, some living in towns and cities and working in industries, some established in hereditary kingdoms seated on thrones of gold and ivory and living like gods. According to contemporary codes, it’s all very correct – except that Louise begins to suspect it’s far from perfect.

It's somewhat unbelievable that Mehuru would go from hating Frances to loving her in such a short time - I felt this needed to develop more slowly and instead was rushed along. That is not to excuse our role in the history of slavery, only to point out that we were not alone, and that we were not the worst, whatever consolation that might provide. I wish they had a bit more development though, especially Mehuru, seeing as how he was one of the main characters. Powerful, haunting, intensely disturbing, this is a novel of desire and shame, of individuals, of a society, and of a whole continent devastated by the greed of others.

A RESPECTABLE TRADE | Kirkus Reviews

There should be nothing to fear in such a sight but the dream had been darkened by a brooding sense of threat which lived with him still. As I came to realize that this book wouldn't go anywhere satisfying (only about 1/3 of the way in), I stubbornly continued reading, hoping that it would get better. Just to get into some of Philippa Gregory's writing and what I liked and didn't like: as always, Philippa Gregory is a natural storyteller. A Respectable Trade is a good yarn and it comes from a good place, attempting to tussle with the many complex moral issues involved in this aspect of history. The dream had been very clear – just one image of a looped rope dropping from a stone quayside and snaking through the water to the prow of a ship, whipping its way up the side as it was hauled in, and then the ship moving silently away from the land.Considered old and impoverished, her new station in life is to teach the people her husband and his sister kidnap from Africa to sell as slaves - a fact Francis learns after she has married. She essentially is showing all the various different points of view when it comes to the slave trade: those who were slaves, those who were against the trade, those who were the cruel slave owners, and those (like Frances and Josiah) who did it more out of necessity because they had to. Ignored by her sainted cousin Henry VI, mocked by her mother, married at age twelve, and endangered by childbirth, she vows to put her son on the throne.

A Respectable Trade (BBC Drama, Warren Clarke) - Memorable TV

Fielding richly deserves to be cast in the lead of full-length feature films, and in roles that require intelligence, imagination and her megawatt star-power.Accused of heresy and expelled from his monastery, Luca Vero is recruited by a mysterious stranger to record the end of the days.