The Coffee Trader [SEP] narrative location
The Coffee Trader
The Coffee Trader is a historical novel by David Liss, set in 17th-century Amsterdam. The story revolves around the activities of commodity trader Miguel Lienzo, who is a Jewish refugee from the Portuguese Inquisition. Recovering from near financial ruin, he embarks on a coffee trading scheme with a Dutch woman, kept secret because it is forbidden by his community council. Miguel navigates the social structures of the Amsterdam business world, the politics of the council, and the plots of competitors bringing this new import to
the familiar fascination of "The Coffee Trader". The less recognizably modern aspects of Sephardic life are marginal to Liss's narrative, but they Liss has said that the novel was originally focused on the chocolate trade, but he switched the focal commodity because "coffee was a better fit" and that ""coffee and business go so naturally together." In an interview, Liss was asked whether Miguel was based on a particular historical figure; her replied that Miguel "is entirely made up based on the sort of character