Books like A Respectable Trade by Philippa Gregory
Set in Bristol in 1787, the novel follows Frances Scott, a young woman whose arranged marriage to dockside trader Josiah Cole thrusts her into the city's booming, but morally fraught, trade of sugar, rum and enslaved Africans. As Frances navigates the social circles of Bristol merchants, she becomes entangled with Mehuru, a Yoruban slave, and faces the consequences of the city's dependence on the slave trade.
The story examines how the pursuit of wealth and social standing drives individuals and society into a web of greed, shame, and moral conflict, illuminating the human cost of Britain's mercantile expansion during the eighteenth century.
First publish date: 2007
Genre: Historical Fiction/19th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Philippa Gregory
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