David Liss: The Coffee Trader

Reviewed by MICHAEL LARSEN

Amsterdam at the end of the 17th century was one of the most thriving centres of commerce in Europe. It had a stock exchange encompassing commodities markets and futures and, as painted by David Liss, a hum and sense of activity not unlike Wall St or the City today.

Liss uses his knowledge of this pivotal period in commercial history to play out his tale of avarice and intrigue as the central character, Miguel Lienzo, buys and sells stocks in an attempt to prosper and then, due to a somewhat cavalier attitude to the whims of the Exchange, to save himself from financial ruin.

Being an expat Portuguese Jew, his behaviour is monitored by the Ma'amad, a council of elders who don't look too kindly on his various transgressions, and loathe most of all his disrespect towards the council. Chief antagonist is Solomon Parido, a councillor who, it appears, has set out to make Miguel's life very difficult indeed, after he caused this respectable gentleman to lose as much as Miguel himself gained on a business deal.

Enter Geertruid Damhouder, an enigmatic Dutchwoman to whom Miguel is drawn - in no small measure because of her large breasts but also to the bowl of steaming liquid she puts under his ever-inquisitive nose: coffee. Geertruid sells it to Miguel as the Next Big Thing and they devise a scheme to monopolise the emerging market.

Bound up in all this, and the main characters are often more closely linked than they first realise, is the portly usurer Alonzo Alferonda. A member of a family Miguel saved from the Inquisition back in Portugal, Alonzo has also been on the receiving end of Solomon's malicious intent. He has an overriding need to do him a bad turn or two, a need that ultimately draws in all the disparate and colourful characters woven into Liss' intricate plot.

Add in Miguel's brother Daniel, who detests Miguel's approach to life, Daniel's wife Hannah who grows heavy with child and lust for Miguel, the mad Joachim who is out for revenge against Miguel, and the rogue Hendrick, Geertruid's sidekick, and you have betrayal, both familial and commercial, fit for a Shakespearean tragi-comedy. Mix in the general filth and degradation, the whoring and boozing of the time, which Liss paints humorously and brilliantly, and you have a ready recipe for a great read.

Coffee is the drink of commerce, Geertruid says in one of her more sober moments, and the bittersweet taste of this energy-inducing commodity suffuses the narrative. Liss also casts light on Jewish observances and arcane laws, and the difficulty the Ma'amad has in trying to replant these in a new environment. He throws an admiring word or two the Dutch way, too, particularly for their tolerance and maturity in understanding that immigration made their world more colourful and successful.

Intricate but not bamboozling, witty, bawdy and informative, The Coffee Trader is superb. And there are enough twists and turns to require you to be pretty alert at all times. Better make a brew.

Penguin, $26.95