This is a story of the Bristol merchant life in the late 1700s. The book focuses on Josiah Cole and his family. Josiah is a social climber and arranges marriage to a poor English woman who comes from a good family. Through her connections, he hopes to become a member of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol who are the merchant elite.

This was a hard book to read because of the main subject matter. Much of Bristol's trade was in slaves. It is astounding to consider what Africa might have been today if millions of its citizens had not been kidnapped and killed by slave traders and slave owners. I'm sure that the author was writing about the common attitudes towards slaves at the time, but it's still hard to read about people discussing human beings as though they are incapable of thought or feeling.

Several of the key characters were a bit cookie cutter and the length of the book did not allow for much character development which is why I've rated it as 8/10. I'm a fan of Philippa Gregory's work and this book certainly was well worth reading.