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Trade Wind
I first read this novel when I was a teenager some 20 years ago; it is one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it so many times that I can run through whole pages of dialogue in my head! Reading it is like visiting an old friend. To me, every word is perfectly chosen, every nuance sublime. The novel contains action, adventure, historical detail and romance - what's not to love? Read it (you may have to look for a used copy or try the library) and fall in love.
Trade Wind
The first time I read Trade Wind, I started out not liking it. Three-quarters of the way through I was hooked. The description of the setting captured my imagination. My favourite thing about it is M M Kaye's own reflections on a fading world that the western world still tries to encroach upon. She allows you to see the world for what it can offer and people for who they are. Even today many do not have the insight to look on the flip side of the coin to really understand the people around them. I have now read this book over 30 times in 6 years.
Trade Wind
**Spoiler alert**I almost didn't buy this book because of the couple negative reviews and I'm glad I ignored them. This book was fascinating. If you can't sit through a PG13 movie, it's not for you. If, however, you love to read about all the fallibilities and impossibilities of lives lived in a far off, long ago, and wild place, this is a book you'll want to read. As in all her epic works, M.M. Kaye throws down an absorbing tale. It lacks the heartbreaking sadness and sweetness of The Far Pavillions, but on the other hand, it offers a clear eyed accounting of what life was like on an East African island involved in the slave trade, and subtly weaves a redeeming love story throughout it. There was, for me, a very interesting contrast between the so-called "good" high society suitor who hides his depravities from his supposed love vs. the more blatant but dastardly "man-of-action" who can easily follow a nautical compass but sometimes sails disastrously wide of a moral one. True love, however, finally pins him irrevocably in her points. Despite what the hero and heroine get wrong about themselves and about their lives, they do manage, by the end, to get each other right. That, to me, is the beauty of life and love and a good story. I read the controversy over the book's alluded rape scene and, while it's shocking, it's far less shocking to me than the author's accounts of the slave trade on the island, the anachronistic racial attitudes, or the historically based cholera epidemic, which, incidentally, M.M. Kaye's own endnote says she watered down. Good heavens!... I can't help but feel her own own admirable heroine, Hero, would agree. So, enjoy it. Savor it. Keep it. It's bound to have a permanent home on your bookshelf.
Trade Wind
I never read one novel twice as I remember most of it and it does not hold any suspence for me. But this one I read in 1994 and ever since that day I have read it as many times as I can. I recommend it to anyone who has a taste for the historical romances.
Trade Wind
TRADE WIND by M.M.Kaye is perhaps one of the best audio novels we have every heard. It is for a very long trip because it encompasses, in the unabridged version, about 25 hours of fascinating listening. The writer spent many years in British Colonies and writes about them, weaving a tantalizing love story with terrific characterization into the history and exquisite descriptions of the time and place. This one is set in Zanzibar during slave trading days in the mid 1800's. It is beautifully written and read. It will hold your attention to the very last word and you'll be sorry it is not even longer! The only problem is that after this listening you will find it difficult to find another audio novel so captivating
Trade Wind
I really didn't expect to like "Trade Wind" by M.M. Kaye as much as I did. I thought it would be a superficial, fun, beach-read. While it was a fun beach read, it was anything but superficial. The story started out with what seemed to be a transparent plot, but by the end, the building suspense had left the culmination uncertain.In fact, the author skillfully toyed with my emotions. At first I disliked a couple of the characters. Then I became attached to them. The next thing I knew, I disliked them again. Either way, I felt a definite stake in what happened to them.The plot played a significant role in this, but the historic setting was so genuine that one could almost smell the stench of Zanzibar, see the bustling in the crowded streets and hear the crashing of the ocean waves during storms.And finally, the honest and pragmatic way the author presented the business of slavery, and the different manner in which diverse societies dealt with it, added a depth and importance to this book that historic romances don't usually possess.My only reservation was that the descriptions sometimes got long-winded and repetitious. Some readers love that, but I'm a slow reader, so I ended up doing some skimming. However, that does not stop me from heartily recommending "Trade Wind".Bernardette CostaAuthor, The Six Colorful Annies