Three stars because well-written and enjoyable to read but My God! there are some serious issues in this book which made me decide on a two-stars rating. Beware spoilers!First,the rape was pretty badly plotted in order to make it an acceptable part of the romantic plot. It's logical considering the two characters but unnecessary to the story and a little sadistic, and even sadomaso, on the part of the author. What's more, there's another rape of a local girl by a white character and that's wholly accepted by the white community settling in Zanzibar. Is this credible given the colonial atmosphere of the island? Yes. But does it follow that the writer never has to step in and judge? No! M. M. Kaye is so set on denouncing her characters' naïve ideologies that she never actually follows an ideology of her own. She just never settles on the colonial question, or the romantic question. She takes the safe road to tell a story which cannot be told outside of a moral point of view. If she has opinions on something other than her characters, she's careful not to show them.And that's where comes my biggest criticism: Rory is never seriously judged for his being a slave trader, and he justifies it by his assurance that he treats them well and more importantly, that he only does it every other travel. Basically, when he trades slaves, he makes sure the next travel or so will include the destruction of another slave ship. Pff! Seriously? Well then, next time a rapist rapes somebody (but treats them well), he can repair by making sure another rapist gets caught, and then go back to raping another person, then get another rapist caught...You see where I'm going with this...? And it's important because the more you read, the more you get the feeling that the writer really loves Rory, and you half expect there's gonna be a twist or a revelation that he was never a slave trader in the first place, or something. Well, no! He is one, on top of being a rapist, too. I'm mixed-race and I find that reasoning disgusting!Next: the colonial background of the plot, the slave trade, are never actually delt with. They are constantly referred to but only present to give a dramatic background for the romantic love affair and the downfall of the characters. It's not about slavery, and it's not about the colonies, it's about: will Hero come to her senses before she looses Rory? By this process, Kaye renders all the black characters of the book utterly disposable and irrelevant. It's a book supposedly on slavery that never actually explores the slaves' point of view. Why do it anyway? they're just a undistinguished mass of people. But the American and British characters? God forbid they should all have the same personality, or lack thereof... Why call it Trade Wind, then? To arouse an interest that the actual story doesn't deserve, maybe...
At 553 pages, this isn't a book to read in one sitting; but well worth the read however long it takes. It's probably one of the most unusual books Ive read. By that I mean, nothing is black and white. The protagonists are neither all good or all bad.For example, the heroine, in her attempt to reform the world ends up doing more harm than good; at least at first. She is impetuous, stubborn and naive. But over the course of her experiences in Zanzibar, many of which were unpleasant, she learns a great deal about herself and other people's way of life.The hero ( I almost shudder to call him that), also has to learn the hard way what NOT to do to make a success of himself, not materially because he does very well in that department, but as a person. He however, never claims to be virtuous. So when he makes some VERY outrageously bad decisions, we're disappointed but not overly surprised, especially when you learn his family background. At some point in the story (around page 350) you'll come to a scene behind closed doors which will shock and disgust you (as it should); but I wouldn't give up on the story just yet. I recommend waiting it out to see how it all ends. Sometimes people do change. And even the unforgivable is not necessarily unforgivable.While I would never call this male protagonist "hero material", the book had a gritty realism that is hard to argue with. No one lives in a fairy tale ...Really, if I was to give this book a theme it would be: NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMSThe story deals with many things: shipwreck, slave traders, royal revolt and annual pirates "traders". Also the climax of the book is the most chilling: the cholera plague which ultimately killed over 20,000 people. And the most sobering thing about this book is that most of it is absolutely true.Bottom line: If you like epic tales of history with plenty of excitement and intrigue, you may love Trade Wind. This can not be called a romance by any stretch of the imagination as it (the romance) makes up so little of the book; maybe 2%. It's primarily an adventure and a character study.CONTENT:VIOLENCE: Very little. Fratricide is mentioned, and one man is shot through the head as he is carrying the plague.LANGUAGE: moderate, sprinkled throughout. Mainly D's and B's (fatherless offspring)SEX: None shown, but there is a rape and you know what happens. Immoral "arrangements" are also spoken of as having taken place by various characters, again, not shown to the reader.For thematic elements I would rate this PG-13.
What do You think about Trade Wind (1985)?
Starting off on a strong note, I found it virtually impossible to put down. The plot itself is captivating, while the characters are brought right off the page. Hero (ironically named) is very easy to relate to. Who knew Therese was such a skunk? When Clayton's true character was revealed by Rory, I was quite shocked. Here I was thinking Clay loved Hero (and only Hero)...tsk tsk tsk. Maybe I'm just too trusting of characters in books such as this, but shame on him. This book had four major "part
—Juliana
Trade Wind is one of those delightful books that you can tell belongs to another decade, just from the sentence structure and style of storytelling. I couldn't quite tell while I was reading whether the historical setting was meant to be a device to advance the story, or whether the main characters' lives were an opportunity to write about the political and social situation in Zanzibar. Yes - Zanzibar.Hero Athena Hollis (our heroine) is on her way to her uncle's family in Zanzibar when she manag
—Jenny
Trade Wind is, bar none, my favorite book...period.I first read it when I was 16 years old, and now I'm 46. Even after 15+ readings (I've lost count), I still love it. I always hesitate to recommend it to friends, because it's almost like my baby--I don't want people to think it's ugly. It combines beautiful writing with in-depth factual information about the history and island of Zanzibar of the mid-1800's. The plot is well maintained throughout the book. Kaye's writing is both lyrical and strong; painting word pictures, expressing the emotions of the characters and triggering an emotional response in the reader. The romance is secondary to the story, but wow, what a romance Kaye delivers. Kaye truely fleshed out the main characters of Hero and Rory extremely well; exposing them with all their strengths and weaknesses. You won't find a Mary Sue/Gary Stu in the pages of this novel. Even secondary characters (i.e. Batty Potter, Dan Larrimore, Salme, Amrah and Sultan Majid) are well drawn and sympathetic. Without attempting to give away any major spoilers, I will tell potential readers that a part of this book is very controversial. It appears to be the "tipping point" why some readers rate Trade Wind with 1-2 stars. For myself, I think the action is justified within the context of the plotline and the motivation of the lead male character, and personally didn't have a problem with it as it pertains to this story. However, I totally understand that others could find it so.I only regret I cannot give this 10 stars instead of a paltry 5.
—Hannah
