I used to take sugar in my tea, and I still love sweet puddings... My university is endowed by rich men who draw their wealth from the colonies. My patients are all Traders. We all profit from the thieving in Africa. If we stopped it tomorrow we would still be rich from their loss...I believe the Trade will be ended...But the cruelty we have learned will poison us forever." Speaking to the press Emma Fielding felt that the affair between Frances and Mehuru was key to getting across some important facts about the slave trade saying “the love story is a more acceptable way of showing slavery. This way it’s not just a history lesson.” Writer: Philippa Gregory (from her novel) / Music: Julian Nott / Costume Design: Frances Tempest / Production Design: Anthony Ainsworth / Producer: Ruth Baumgarten / Executive Producers: Kevin Menton, Nigel Warren-Green, Ruth Caleb, Michael Wearing / Director: Suri Krishnamma I also liked seeing Mehuru and his interactions with the other slaves. I wish they had a bit more development though, especially Mehuru, seeing as how he was one of the main characters.

A Respectable Trade[26/04/98] (1998) | BFI A Respectable Trade[26/04/98] (1998) | BFI

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. It did not.

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The conflict between the two forms an interesting dynamic. Also involved is a pro-abolitionist Dr. Stuart Hadley. The author explores the moral quandry of people such as this doctor, who feels trapped by the knowledge that he has also benefited by the very trade he now despises, Add to that Frances' failing health and the money worries of the scheming Josiah as he overreaches himself in more and more schemes to make money their outwardly happy world looks set to collapse. The attraction could lie with her selection of specific females; often historical noblewomen who have up to now only been noteworthy in the history books in terms of their potential for breeding, or in making favourable marriages for diplomatic or financial reasons. Philippa Gregory's treatment of these characters turns them into passionate, independent women, invariably with a very modern outlook. It is an appealing treatment - and clearly very successful. Whether it gives us an authentic historical view of these women is another matter.

A Respectable Trade - Wikipedia

I’m getting older and I read for pleasure. Why should I continue to read a book that is just not for me? A premissa era boa e a autora alinhavou a história com todos os ingredientes para um belíssimo livro.

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Mehuru was a priest and a nobleman in his native Africa and as he comes to terms with his new situation in life, he shows readers what slaverly was like in 1700s England. Thru his eyes, the cruelty, the sorry living conditions, and the frustrations of being another's property is unveiled. Philippa Gregory is an established writer and broadcaster for radio and television. She went to school in Bristol, has a history degree from the University of Sussex and a PhD in Eighteenth-century literature from the University of Edinburgh. She has been widely praised for her historical novels, as well as for her works of contemporary suspense. The Other Boleyn Girl has been adapted for BBC television and is now a major film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana. Philippa Gregory lives in the North of England with her family. Welcome, DISH customer! Please note that we cannot save your viewing history due to an arrangement with DISH. A Respectable Trade is not what you expect from Philippa Gregory, but I think it showcases her talents and abilities a lot better than her more recent poolside-type historical fiction (based on the one Tudor book I’ve read). He gave a little shiver and turned from the doorway. 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. 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.

A Respectable Trade (1998) - Turner Classic Movies A Respectable Trade (1998) - Turner Classic Movies

If this book was JUST historical fiction, it would've been trashy, a bit melodramatic and pretty dang fun to read. However, Ms. Gregory had to make it a romance too, which ruined it. I liked seeing Frances grow as a character. She starts out being shy and submissive, willing to do whatever people tell her to do without asking any questions, but as the novel continues, she slowly becomes more independent, and realizes that what her husband is doing isn't entirely sound at all. Cast: Warren Clarke as Josiah Cole; Anna Massey as Sarah Cole; Emma Fielding as Frances Cole, nee Scott; Ariyon Bakare as Mehuru; Richard Briers as Sir Charles Fairley; Jenny Agutter as Lady Scott; Simon Williams as Lord Scott; Tanya Moodie as Rachel; Jenny Jules as ElizabethThis, as you can imagine is quite a complex book to read, I found it quite hard to read in some parts and brings to light the harrowing lives the slaves lived during this time. I find that this book is educating and that it is excellently written. Gregory touches on the brutality of slavery but in a gentle way, I feel like she went quite light when you really think about it, although there are some triggers to be aware of. Another slave is Mandinka and one is Wolof. They all speak different languages, and we witness the total incomprehension as well as the barbarity of the sailors who have taken these people from their homes.