The Jewel Trader of Pegu: A Novel [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Hantover (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2008

In the autumn of 1598, Abraham, a melancholy young Jewish gem merchant, seeks his fortune far from the imprisoning ghetto walls of Venice. Traveling halfway across the world, he lands in the lush and exotic Burmese kingdom of Pegu—an alien place, yet one where the jewel trader is not shunned for his faith. There is a price for his newfound freedom, however. Local custom demands that Abraham perform a duty he finds troubling and barbaric . . . and thus Mya, barely more than a girl, arrives to share his bed. Gently banishing his despair, awakening something profound within him, Mya ultimately accepts Abraham's protection and, unexpectedly, his love. But great social and political upheaval threatens to violently transform the Peguan empire—with devastating consequences for Abraham and Mya and their dreams for the future.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jewish jewel trader Abraham, a widower at 28, leaves Venice in 1598 for Pegu, a Burmese kingdom halfway around the world, where he is to settle and acquire high-quality gems for the family business. In his letters home, which comprise much of the novel, Abraham, liberated from the ghetto, delights in the freedom to walk when and where he will, but soon discovers that foreigners are expected to perform a specific service to bring luck to the marriages of young brides, one that is forbidden by Jewish law. His relationship with a young woman, Mya, expands his views, and he develops deep friendships with several other locals. As political unrest grows in the area, however, Abraham is forced to choose between his feelings for Mya and his certainty that the world does not have a place for their love. Making his fiction debut, Hantover intercuts Abraham's letters with short chapters from Mya's point of view with delicacy and grace. He evokes the lush setting and gives clear voice to Abraham's doubts, fears and passions. (Jan.)
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Review

“Dreamy and lyrical, steeped in the customs and atmosphere of a world long lost, THE JEWEL TRADER OF PEGU takes the reader on a deep emotional journey through the meanings of what is precious.” (Liza Dalby, author of The Tale of Murasaki: A Novel, and Geisha )

“[E]nchanting...moving...Hantover has written a jewel of a novel.” (The Reporter on THE JEWEL TRADER OF PEGU )

“A thinking reader’s tale with all the trappings of an exotic historical romance.” (Debra Dean, author of The Madonnas of Leningrad )

“A vivid portrait of life in Southeast Asia of the 16th century...[A] compelling debut novel.” (The American Jewish World )

“Beautifully written and expertly researched by an art and antiquities expert, this novel captivates ‘til its final page.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram )

“[Readers] will be swept away by Hantover’s lavish descriptions of an exotic, lost Asian kingdom; the gentle love story; and the tale of one man’s thoughtful journey to his heart’s home.” (Booklist )

“A journey to the center of the heart . . . a beautiful story of love overcoming obstacles . . . [R]eaders are treated to a long look at the interior landscape of a man of faith whose world is shaken by the power of unexpected love.” (BookPage )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 227 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (January 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061252700
• ISBN-13: 978-0061252709
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,753,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Tender Romance -- Literary But Insubstantial, January 2, 2008

By 

B. Case "InquiringMind" (Redondo Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jewel Trader of Pegu: A Novel (Hardcover)

I was delighted when I received an Advanced Readers Copy of "The Jewel Trader of Pegu" by Jefferey Hantover to review. Everything about the description of this book enchanted me. It looked like it would be a tantalizing and sensuous mix of literary delights: an adventure story set in the 16th century Burmese Kingdom of Pegu, a tender romance with ancient multiracial and multireligious overtones, a thinking-reader's tale rife with thematic undercurrents, and a work of dreamy and lyrical prose.

I finished the novel easily in one day. The experience was pleasant enough, but the book left me feeling sorely disappointed. It wasn't the ending that disappointed. Rather, it was the insubstantial literary weight of the entire work. I wanted to like this work. There was great promise, on multiple levels, but none of the parts measured up. The novel left me feeling empty.

Typically, I write a review within a day or two after finishing a book. But I didn't for this book. Instead, I kept waiting. I let almost a week go by hoping time might provide further insight that I could use to appreciate this book in a better light. But the more time passed, the more I found myself finding even greater fault with this work.

On the good side, the author succeeded in giving me an intriguing glimpse of two separate late-16th-century worlds: the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, and the Southeast-Asian Kingdom of Pegu. But even here, I felt cheated. I wanted much more detail. Historical fiction typically takes its readers deep into the culture, politics, economy, technology, and customs of a new world. This book merely gave an overall feeling for the times. That might have been all right, if the novel had delivered convincing deeply wrought main characters. But here, too, I felt let down. For me, none of the characters came to life. They weren't flat. They were just not real three-dimensional human beings. Frankly, the main characters, Abraham and Mya, were nothing more than flimsy fantasy--too perfect to be real.

The inspiration for the story evidently came from a single sentence in an unnamed Southeast Asian history book: "In Pegu and other ports of Burma and Siam, foreign traders were asked to initiate brides." From this one source, the author builds the entire scaffolding for his novel. But I found his framework to be little more than a house of cards. I was completely unable to buy into the author's fantasy of what this sentence might suggest. The more I thought about it, the more upset it made me. How dare the author create a fictional history on so little evidence? To me this idea seemed little more than a late-night sailor's tale that somehow made its way into some obscure history tome. But perhaps more important, is how poorly the author succeeds in making us believe these rituals: the deflowering of ancient merchant-class Burmese brides by foreign traders in order to bring their families good luck. Nonsense!

The novel did have one significant redeeming quality: the prose was fresh, reflective, and at times delightfully lyrical.

In the end, this novel was nothing more than a light sensual soft-core romance-- uncommon in its unusual ancient multicultural setting, but nonetheless very forgettable.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jewel of a Novel, January 30, 2008

By 

Jack Dougherty (Ivy, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Jewel Trader of Pegu: A Novel (Hardcover)

Jeff Hantover took me along on the best literary road trip I've been on in memory. From the first pages, the reader is there in the moment with the main character, Abraham, as the young man steps off the boat and is drawn into the exotic, slightly creepy, utterly sensual kingdom of Pegu.

One of the great pleasures of this book is Hantover's writing. He is like an artisan diamond cutter who obsesses over the tiniest details: The words, sentences and paragraphs of this book sparkle, and were clearly crafted with great precision. The result is a book that is luxurious, elegantly understated, and flawless.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Our companionship can only be in my dreams that I nw most eagerly invite.", February 13, 2008

By 

Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Jewel Trader of Pegu: A Novel (Hardcover)

A major seaport, Pegu was founded in 825AD by two brothers from Thaton. Considered the golden land of the Mons, Pegu's golden era started in 1365 when it became the capital of Lower Myanmar. Its greatness lasted for 270 years and early European visitors often mentioned Pegu's importance as a seaport and centre for trade, each generation of seafarers commenting on its magnificence.

Certainly Abraham, a twenty-eight-year-old Jewish jewel murchant who in 1598 comes to this great city for a year to do business in the stone trade, is totally overwhelmed by this strange and exotic city, where wonders exist that would turn the "Grand Canal black with ink." A place that is synonymous with eternity, Pegu proves to be a city of solace for Abraham, far from the narrow and twisting streets of Venice and the dark segregated life in the enclaves of the Jewish ghetto.

Abraham writes to his cousin Joseph aboard the ship and it is here that he first mixes with Gujaratis, Malays, Siamese and all of the other "brown-faced heathens," even as in their eyes, Abraham is considered one of the big-nosed and hairy barbarians. From his ship Abraham sees jungles that are so thick with towering trees that sunlight rarely pierces their branches where strange lands that appear like magical incanations, that "an alchemist might chant."

But it is in Pegu that Abraham truly awakens to new possiblities. A grand city of wide streets, the metropolis is filled with giant coconut palms that fan out over streets, the avenues constantly glittering with gilded spires. It is also here that the jewel trader comes face to face with these strange and remarkable Peguans, the tatooed men, covered from navel to knee with all kinds of wild and strange creatures, and the women, their faces painted with yellow powder and paste.

Abraham's broker, a small bald fellow by the name of Maung Win, helps acclimate Abraham to this exotic new environment. A man of strong will, Win is only one of only four royal jewel brokers and because he speaks redimentary Italian he is able to help Abraham navigate his first months at the royal trading house where the selling of Indian cloth enables him to accumulate a fine supply of stones that his clients, the retainers and rivals and their wives and lovers in the noble houses of Venice will pay handsomely for.

The young Jewel trader is finding himself strangely taken with the trade as these jewels are transformed into priceless rubies and sapphires that in Venice will turn to gold and silver, and for the first time Abraham finds himself a part of the world, so far from the life that he has knowni Venice. Abrahm, however must not only meet his obligations as a trader; there is something else that is expected of him, something that proves to be reprehensible to his spirit.

It is a custom in Pegu for brides from good families have a foreigner take their maidenhead and it is an honor to both. Win tells Abraham that the Genoese perform this service for many and as a foreigner he is automatically protected by the spirits. By sleeping with these girls on their wedding night, Abraham will bring good fortune to the marriage. But Abraham is appalled at what he must do, seeing the act as a type of barbarism.

Abraham meets the young Mya whose has come upriver from a life in the paddy fields to marry a man whom she has never met. Win asks him to deflower her, but events take a dramatic turn when he becomes attracted to her, the sexual longing and the deep love that develops between them bringing on a host of unexpected complications. As Mya becomes his sweetheart, Abraham finds himself becoming ever more caught up the lives of these people even as the political instabilities of the kingdom and the accompanying social upheaval forces him to make some difficult choices.

This quiet novel, filled with philosophy and spiritualism is layered with some of the most descriptions of Peguan history and culture and author Jeffrey Hantover certainly works to bring all of the sites, sounds and smells of this exotic place to life within the context of Abraham's journey and his letters back to Joseph.

As Abraham gradually opens his heart to love, his experiences of this new and foreign place portray a man humbled and slow to pass judgement on those whose legs are tattooed with birds and beasts and whose cheeks are scarred with war. But perhaps the true wonders that he discovers are the ones that lay waiting in his heart. Mya offers him hope and a new form of intimacy that cures his soul and eventually brings him a sudden and unexpected joy in a world of straight roads and twisting paths. Mike Leonard February 08.