Trade Wind

By: M. M. Kaye

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

The scene is teeming Zanzibar just before the American Civil War, when the Isle of Cloves was a center of African slave trade. To it comes Hero Athena Hollis, a Boston bluestocking filled with self-righteousness and bent on good deeds.

Then she meets Rory Frost, a cynical, wicked, shrewd and good-humored trader in slaves. What is Hero to make of him (and of her feelings for him)?

©1963, 1981 M.M. Kaye (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Tightly plotted, crammed with detail and irresistibly romantic." ( Cosmopolitan)

Wonderful Story, Beautiful Writing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, all the writing by M.M. Kaye is classic, articulate, well-written, engaging.

What did you like best about this story?

The unique plot. Unfortunately, the cover art here, as well as the blurb, portrays the book as a bodice-ripper, which it absolutely is not. It's very well written historical fiction. The characters are developed well, the plot is intriguing, and the writing is top-notch.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Anytime an accent is called for, be is English, Irish, Scottish, whatever, the narrator does it in a Caribbean-Jamaican lilt. It's off-putting. Also, she mispronounces words that were common to the time, such as "blackguard." It's "blaggard," not "Black Guard." Her voice is pleasant, though.

Good book, terrible reader

I was excited to see Audible version of book I had read and enjoyed many many years ago. This reader was awful, especially for book requiring many accents. The only accent she could produce was Jamaican. Upper class English? Jamaican. Cockney? French? Jamaican. Mispronounced words constantly interrupted my train of listening. Arabic words and names were quite hashed. And ssllooww. I finally put it on 1.25 speed for a major improvement. I will be careful to not get a book read by this actor in future.

Great story, average reader.

I have read this book many times over 35 years. M M Kaye is such a great story teller and because I too have lived in, and traveled to some of the places that she writes about I know how accurate her descriptions are. I have not been on Zanzibar, but I have read other stories of East Africa and the history of the region, and Trade Wind fits in well to what I know. My one concern was the reader. While I’m sure she would be good for other stories, she did not have good accents for the British or Arab voices. Her accent for the French voice was good. But both her accents and her mispronunciation of certain Arab names and places grated on my ears. But I would listen to it again!

Americans should not read British authors

The story was powerful enough to distract me most of the time from the reader- but as many said, she was sometimes distracting.

Love MM Kaye and the amount of research she always puts into her historical dramas though- and if you are like me and don’t get to sit and read as much as you like, then it is a gift to be able to have access to her works from even less ideal readers.

Ended too soon.

Great story. It's really only about the tale, isn't it? I listened at 1.50 speed and that took care of most of the mechanics that were bothersome.