THE JEWEL TRADER OF PEGU

Author: Jeffrey Hantover ISBN: 0061252700 1/2008 HISTORICAL FICTION Publisher: WILLIAM MORROW
Time Period: 1598-99 Pegu (Burma)

A melancholy young Jewish gem merchant, Abraham, born in Venice, has lived his life behind the ghetto walls of that damp, oppressive city. He has lost a wife and the son whose difficult birth killed her. Now there is nothing left for him there. In the autumn of 1598, Abraham chooses to seek his fortune far from the painful familiarity of Europe and travels halfway across the world to the lush and exotic Burmese kingdom of Pegu. An overpoweringly strange mélange of sodden heat, colorful customs, and odd superstitions, it is a place and a people completely alien to him. Yet in Pegu, the jewel trader is not hated or shunned for his faith. Here Abraham is a man. Here he is free. But there is a price for his newfound freedom. Local custom demands that foreigners perform a duty Abraham finds both troubling and barbaric. While it is a responsibility many men would embrace eagerly, it mocks Abraham's moral beliefs and fills him with dread and despair . . . until Mya arrives to briefly share his bed. Barely more than a girl, she awakens something within him far more profound—and more pleasurable—than the guilt he anticipated. And when tragedy destroys the future that was planned for her, Abraham takes Mya in, offering her his home, his protection, and, unexpectedly, his love. But great social and political upheaval threatens to violently transform the entire Peguan empire—and the actions of the powerful will force fateful choices that could have devastating consequences for Abraham and Mya and their dreams for the future.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE JEWEL TRADER OF PEGU is a perfect example of why I enjoy historical fiction so much. Filled with rich historical detail set against an exotic and unique backdrop, Jeffrey Hantover tells this compelling tale of two sixteenth century star-crossed lovers who come from different cultures and beliefs through letters written home by the lead character, Abraham, a Jewish Venetian gem merchant, and the oral remembrances of Mya, the Peguan woman he comes to love. It's a turbulent time in Asia's history, in a kingdom where Abraham's faith and religious beliefs collide head on with those of the people he lives and trades with.

The book revolves around the slow awakening of Abraham, and how the rituals and cultural practices of the Peguans present such a contradiction of belief versus actions for him, a contradiction Abraham must come to terms with. He faces more than one moral dilemma as the story moves along, which he either accepts or rejects what is asked of him by reason of his faith. Those dilemmas, as well as Abraham's emergence from a man with a lost soul into a man who finds love, purpose and direction, make up some of the more interesting aspects of this book.

Mya, the young Peguan woman Abraham takes in and falls in love with, is selfless and as devoted to her Buddha and his teachings as Abraham is to his Jehovah. The contrasts between their two cultures—especially inside of Mya's, which seems unbelievably barbaric and brutal, at times, with the Peguans' actions in direct conflict to their own religious teachings (i.e., you shouldn't hurt a flea or any living creature, and yet the punishment for an adulteress is to bind her to a raft, set her adrift and let her slowly die by exposure to the sun and insects)—is really what held this book together for me. While the telling of Abraham's and Mya's individual lives using his letters and her musings isn't new, it works extremely well in this instance, effortlessly shifting the focus from one person to the other.

Exotic in setting, with fascinating characters and skillfully written, THE JEWEL TRADER OF PEGU by Jeffrey Hantover is sure to please any aficionado of historical fiction who enjoy their stories unique and out-of-the-ordinary.

Nancy Davis