A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss
I generally enjoy historical fiction, and have previously enjoyed the historical novels of David Liss. I especially enjoyed The Coffee Trader. This book, however, not so much. I found it hard to care about Benjamin Weaver as he struggled to solve why someone wanted him dead.
A Spectacle of Corruption is the sequel to A Conspiracy of Paper which first introduced the reader to Benjamin Weaver. A Spectacle of Corruption centers around the exploits of Benjamin Weaver at the time of the British parliamentary elections of 1722. Although Weaver, as a Jew, was ineligible to participate in the elections, he found himself caught up in the process after being framed for the murder of Walter Yate, a dockworker. The 1722 British elections held intrigue for a number of reasons, not the least of which the Jacobites, who were attempting to restore the throne to the Catholic James the Pretender, threatened the security of King George I, England's first Hanoverian monarch.
Liss vividly describes life in 18th-century London. Benjamin Weaver is a “thieftaker,” which was apparently somewhat equivalent to today’s bounty hunters. He walks a fine line in a world hostile to anyone who is at all "foreign", and as a Jew, he is perceived as an outsider.
After his trial, in which he is found guilty of murdering Walter Yate, and as he is being hauled off to prison, a mysterious blonde woman hands Weaver a lockpick and file. Within hours, he has escaped from prison and is now a fugitive in London. Now he must prove his innocence to save his life.
Weaver enlists the aid of his friend Elias, who helps him masquerade as a wealthy tobacco merchant from Jamaica ready to become involved in British politics. The novel purports to be a mystery as Weaver must figure out why he was singled out for the murder of Yate.
I found the novel not so much a mystery as a snapshot of life in London in the early 1700s. Liss captures the sights, sounds and smells of London ~ a city crowded with poverty, coffee houses, and the juxtaposition of wealthy with their own set of impoverished morals. The book is well researched and provides an interesting slice of daily life experienced 300 years ago. Politically, however, not so much has changed.
Read: May 28, 2010
