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A Respectable Trade

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A Respectable Trade

By: Philippa Gregory
Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
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About this listen

From the bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.

Bristol in 1787 is booming, from its stinking docks to its elegant new houses. Josiah Cole, a small dockside trader, is prepared to gamble everything to join the big players of the city. But he needs ready cash and a well-connected wife.

An arranged marriage to Frances Scott is a mutually convenient solution. Trading her social contacts for Josiah’s protection, Frances enters the world of the Bristol merchants and finds her life and fortune dependent on the respectable trade of sugar, rum and slaves.

Once again Philippa Gregory brings her unique combination of a vivid sense of history and inimitable storytelling skills to illuminate a complex period of our past. 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.

 Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Thriller & Suspense Fiction Marriage Africa

Critic reviews

“Philippa Gregory’s historical storytelling skills are borught vividly to life by Jenny Agutter.”
Choice March 1998
All stars
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Was way too limited in scope - the weakest Philippa Gregory novel I have read (and I've read quite a few). Left me feeling disappointed with the overal plot and story.

Too Short - Lacking Detail and an Unlikely Theme

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narrator very smooth, just read story with no voice o flections for different characters. but we'll read. Enjoyed the story.

excellent listen

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Another great story from phillipa Gregory..taking you into the harsh reality of such times of slavery and the lives of all involved .

very moving ..

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This book is brilliant but Jenny Agutter reading of it is boring and spoils the listen of it, Sorry Jenny

A Repectable Trade

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This is a great book, and one I have read many times. The problem with the audiobook is that it has been too shortened. It has simplified the story and the characters and taken away the atmosphere of the book. On the whole disappointing.

Too Abridged

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