Trade Wind

This is the story of Hero Athena Hollis, an extremely independent woman of the 19th century, vehemently opposed to slavery and all of society's injustices and determined to use her wealth to stamp them out. After Hero's father dies, she is invited to join her family in Zanzibar where her uncle is serving as the American Counsel. Hero's family always expected that she would marry her aunt's son by a first marriage, even though she is not sure she's in love with him. While on voyage to Zanzibar during a huge storm, Hero is washed off the boat deck and presumed dead. However, another ship captained by the infamous slave trader Rory Frost pulls up their rigging out of the sea and finds a half drowned, bruised and battered Hero. Since Hero is such a bruised mess from her ordeal, Rory has no idea what a beauty she is until sometime after she has been returned to her family. To say more of the story than this would be revealing the entire plot, which I don't like to do. M.M. Kaye's knowledge of the Far East shines through, as it does in all her books. She stays as historically accurate as she can, and pulls no punches when describing the customs of the Island, the slave trade, the cholera epidemic and more. And once again, Kaye is able through her books to remind us that the west and east are two different and completely disparate cultures and will never see eye to eye. One other lesson brought to home in this story is when Hero's eyes are opened to the fact that for all her good intentions, going barging in to another culture you know nothing about and trying to change them "for the better" to the more "civilized culture" is inherently wrong, and one should look to correct what is one own's back yard first before trying to change the world. This was a wonderful tale and I had a hard time putting it down. Out of print, but readily available at my county library. *******SPOILERS DISCUSSED**** I see some of the other reviewers were distressed by the rape scene(s) towards the end of the book. While I do not condone rape under any circumstance, one must remember this was 19th century, in a remote island off the east coast of Africa, during a very turbulent time in that island's history. Kaye set the plot well leading up to the rape and Rory's actions, while not fully justified, did fit in with the story line. There were no graphic descriptions; everything was left to the reader's imagination, with no gratuitous sex at all. Rory showed remorse the next day and while those same reviewers felt that the second night was a rape, I did not get that at all. I was surprised at the vehemence of those reviewers who reacted so strongly and I'm glad I reserved judgment and read the book for myself. It's funny how so many of our soap opera heroes began as rapists after attacking the woman who would eventually become his true love and redeemed by Hollywood to become yet another super couple, yet people found this rape to be highly offensive. I don't ge

I added the word "novel" to the title of this review because the book is so much more than the usual historical romance. It's really a coming of age story set in a time (the Victorian era) and place (Zanzibar) when many young women just accepted the roles assigned them -- and their peers' assessment of outsiders -- without question. Molly Kaye's heroine, Hero Hollis, believes herself to be an enlightened modern woman when she departs Boston for Zanzibar, where she intends to visit her diplomat uncle, marry his handsome son, and help civilize the island. But during the long ocean voyage to the island, her idealistic notions of propriety and morality are totally upended when she encounters Rory Frost, a handsome privateer who plucks her from the sea when she's swept overboard during a storm. Frost restores her to her reluctantly grateful family (Frost is a social outcast and gratitude comes hard even though he hasn't touched her). But as she settles in and begins to learn about her new home and its varied and colorful inhabitants (including a weak Sultan and a contentious royal family, other diplomats and locals, and her own relatives), Hero comes to realize that people aren't always what they seem; that their agendas aren't always clear; and that you may come to regret judgments made on the basis of incomplete information or context. Hero's personal journey occurs over a colorful period in the history of exotic land, including not only political upheaval but natural disasters and a plague. Written on an epic scale (I don't disagree with comparisons to Gone with the Wind or Kaye's own The Far Pavilions), this book stays with you long after you've read and re-read it (as I have, several times). It's one of my all-time favorites.

Wow. Please ignore the front and back covers, which will have you convinced that this is an all-sex-all-the-time romance novel, or even one of those interesting and worthy historical romances, a la Bertrice Small. TRADE WIND, as it happens, is more along the lines of an adventure novel, featuring a smart but somewhat naive heroine (named Hero!), drama on the high seas, political plots, good intentions leading to unexpected consequences, an intriguing good guy/bad guy, and plenty of action. And, oh yeah, there's a little bit of romance in there, too. It builds slowly, gradually -- in fact almost imperceptibly -- and it's never graphic. The fact that it happens (finally!) is satisfying, but one leaves with the impression that just a bit more detail would have been nice! Still, I can't fault the book on much; it was perfectly enthralling the whole way through.

I was recommended to M.M.Kaye by my Enlish teacher who, herself, an unmarried woman, thought that the female students in her class should be introduced to the more sophisticated romance genre that was not too modern, and too graphic in its portrayal of a love story. As a result I got acquainted with The Far Parvilions, Shadow of the Moon and Trade Wind. For some reason, Trade Wind, has been in my memory the longest despite that it was not her most acclaimed works (I guess it really depend on one's taste) and finally acquired one copy a decade later. I have, everytime, immensely enjoyed reading about Miss Hero Hollis. I was captivated with the character of the curious, spoilt yet resolute, child of six having her future foretold by an irish wisewoman, growing into a high-minded resolute young woman on a moral crusade to the place of '...sun, wind and saltwater with men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders...'and her fateful meeting with Captain Rory Frost. I have to admit that the pleasure that I get from reading the story arises from the development of her character as she stayed in the foreign land, her trials and tribulations and the belated realization that despite her good but failed intentions, that in life just like in fiction, 'people do things or don't do them because there is something in them that pushes them that way and that they are not always strong enough to fight against', which is aptly said about human nature. And in spite of their differences in values, status and moral conducts, to my opinion, the author did a brilliant job in weaving the relationship of the two main characters in such a way that the romance was plausible, though not always excusable (like the rape for instance),and make the reader understand that like in real life, some things are just harder to account for or justify. The proverbial yet inadequate 'It just happened' holds. In all,Rory Frost is a far cry from a hero that I would want for myself but Miss Hollis is definately one of the best heroines I've ever read despite all her flaws. The characters in the story as well as the description of Zanzibar,both the good and the bad, to me, are very real, the ending is not overly saccharine for my system and I would recommend Trade Wind (as well as other works by this author) for traditional readers who like very good writing, a clever plot and an unforgettable historical romance.

I've had this book sitting in my book shelf since 1981 and I've never read it. Why? Well cause everyone keeps saying "it's not as good as 'Far Pavilions'". They're right of course, but I have not looked at 'Far Pavilions' in a long time. And since I dropped the ridiculously expensive cable package I've been reading more books. Thus I turned my attention to 'Trade Wind' and what an enjoyable read I found. Its style compares more to her mysteries rather than to her famous best-seller. Ms. Kaye gathered up a fascinating history of Zanzibar about slave trading, the Sultan from Oman and his feuding children, an attack by pirates on the American Consulate, and a grisly account of a cholera epidemic in which 20,000 people perished. She includes social commentary on the westernization of the uncivilized world, the duplicity of the French regarding slavery and her trademark scenery descriptions. I'm so glad I finally picked up this book.