THE VARIOUS FLAVOURS OF COFFEEBy Anthony Capella
Sphere, $39.99
Here is author/editor Nicky Pellegrino’s review which first appeared in the Herald on Sunday Detours section yesterday, 9 November, 2008.
Thanks to Nicky and the Herald on Sunday for permission to repeat the piece on Beatties Book Blog, much appreciated.
Even the most philistine drinker of instant coffee will be left craving for the depth and flavour of the finest arabica or mocca after reading Anthony Capella’s third and most original book to date. Coffee flows through a compelling story that pulls together themes as diverse as suffragettism, the beginnings of modern commerce practices and racial prejudice. If all that sounds a bit over-roasted and unpalatable, then it isn’t. Neither is it the typical brew of historical romantic fiction.
The story takes place in late-Victorian London. Its hero, Robert Wallis, is a dandy and wastril who quite by accident discovers he has a talent for tasting and describing the various flavours of coffee. He blunders into a job with a coffee merchant, Samuel Pinker, who’s compiling a guide so buyers can recognise the different characteristics of the finest beans. When Robert falls for his employer’s forward-thinking daughter Emily he’s exiled to the wilds of Africa to start a coffee plantation and that’s when his privileged life really comes unstuck. There’s both comedy and tragedy to be found in his misunderstanding of the African villagers he’s relying on to help him plant his crop and of the complex situations he finds himself in.
Despite his flaws Robert is a likeable hero whose colourful adventures support quite a remarkable amount of historical detail. There are a few points along the way where the author’s enthusiasm for the fruits of his research causes the narrative to flag but on the whole he manages to convey a lot of information about the way things worked at the turn of last century, without cluttering the plot too much.
Especially entertaining is the advertising campaign for Samuel Pinker’s coffee, based on real ads of the time. “His pleasure – her satisfaction! Now, he knows it’s Castle Coffee, he’s CERTAIN she gives him the best,” they trumpet at a time when women were fighting for lives outside the home.
This is a long book and the story is dark in parts, erotic in others. Although essentially a romance, it’s not bodice-ripping or mushy and even those who have sworn off historical fiction after an overload of Philippa Gregory will find it does a lot to refresh the genre.
Even the most philistine drinker of instant coffee will be left craving for the depth and flavour of the finest arabica or mocca after reading Anthony Capella’s third and most original book to date. Coffee flows through a compelling story that pulls together themes as diverse as suffragettism, the beginnings of modern commerce practices and racial prejudice. If all that sounds a bit over-roasted and unpalatable, then it isn’t. Neither is it the typical brew of historical romantic fiction.
The story takes place in late-Victorian London. Its hero, Robert Wallis, is a dandy and wastril who quite by accident discovers he has a talent for tasting and describing the various flavours of coffee. He blunders into a job with a coffee merchant, Samuel Pinker, who’s compiling a guide so buyers can recognise the different characteristics of the finest beans. When Robert falls for his employer’s forward-thinking daughter Emily he’s exiled to the wilds of Africa to start a coffee plantation and that’s when his privileged life really comes unstuck. There’s both comedy and tragedy to be found in his misunderstanding of the African villagers he’s relying on to help him plant his crop and of the complex situations he finds himself in.
Despite his flaws Robert is a likeable hero whose colourful adventures support quite a remarkable amount of historical detail. There are a few points along the way where the author’s enthusiasm for the fruits of his research causes the narrative to flag but on the whole he manages to convey a lot of information about the way things worked at the turn of last century, without cluttering the plot too much.
Especially entertaining is the advertising campaign for Samuel Pinker’s coffee, based on real ads of the time. “His pleasure – her satisfaction! Now, he knows it’s Castle Coffee, he’s CERTAIN she gives him the best,” they trumpet at a time when women were fighting for lives outside the home.
This is a long book and the story is dark in parts, erotic in others. Although essentially a romance, it’s not bodice-ripping or mushy and even those who have sworn off historical fiction after an overload of Philippa Gregory will find it does a lot to refresh the genre.
Capella writes great characters and, when all is said and done, that’s what any truly enjoyable novel is all about. Fans of his previous books The Food Of Love and The Wedding Officer won’t be disappointed.
Nicky Pellegrino
Footnote from The Bookman:
Another aspect of the above title that impressed me was the cover.
Nicky Pellegrino
Footnote from The Bookman:
Another aspect of the above title that impressed me was the cover.
I note the following from the back jacket:
Jacket Design: Jamie Warren, Random House US.
Cover Art: Malvern Hall by John Conctable.
Jacket Design: Jamie Warren, Random House US.
Cover Art: Malvern Hall by John Conctable.
Two other titles that arrived in the post last week for review that also have especially appealing covers were:
Testimony by Anita Shreve – Little Brown $38.99
and
See Naples and Die by Penelope Green – Hachette $29.99
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