The Bitter Trade
Set in the period of the Glorious Revolution when James II was ousted in favour of William and Mary, Calumny Spinks lives in a backwater village in Essex, is almost seventeen, and is desperate to be granted an apprenticeship as a silk weaver. But he does not see eye-to-eye with Peter, his father, and after the tragic death of his French mother, Calumny and Peter must flee from the bigotry of religious intolerance to the sanctuary of the Huguenot weavers in London. There, secrets unravel and fate delivers various twists and turns of treachery, danger, blackmail and intrigue.
With interesting characters and settings I was eager to discover what happened next in this exciting tale, but in places the detailed descriptions slowed the pace a little, and I found some of the historical inaccuracies slightly irritating as they undermined the believability of the story. For instance, there is a very well-written hanging scene at Tyburn – entirely spoilt by the incorrect trap-door method of execution, unheard of in the 1680’s. However, as a fun and entertaining read this is an excellent debut novel by a talented author. Piers Alexander will be a writer to watch.
