Why a Booktrail?
1732 – The characters in the book may be fictitious but the story is based on the true story of the Swedish East India Company’s first journey to China in 1732. An interesting mix and perfect for a booktrail by boat!
Trade Winds – Kinross Series book #1
What you need to know before your trail
It’s 1732 in Gothenburg, Sweden – Jess van Sandt knows only too well that it’s a man’s world. Strong willed, when she suspects that she is being cheated out of her inheritance by her stepfather –she is determined to stop it.
Soon she becomes intrigued by a Scotsman called Killian Kinross, himself disinherited by his grandfather. She proposes a marriage of convenience so she can recover her fortune but when Killian is offered the chance of a lifetime with the Swedish East India Company, he becomes determined to leave everything and set sail.
He sets off on a daring voyage to the Far East but the journey doesn’t quite work out as he expects…
Locations
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May sound like a cliche but you really can sail away with this novel on a journey of discovery. Romance and an adventure all in one but also evocative of a time and a culture long gone – of how women were treated and viewed and how they were not allowed to own property and be truly independent.
It’s a book that transports you through both time and the social mores of 1732 in both China and Sweden.
Two people undertake the adventure of their lives for very different reasons – he wants to make anew life for himself and she wants to prove that her stepfather is trying to disinherit her. Their world is a dangerous one as trade was in those days. The seas perilous.
‘We can’t afford to lose any time,’ Campbell said emphatically If we don’t make it into the China Sea by August, we could be stuck waiting for favourable winds for nearly six months. Unthinkable’
Within the Author’s notes in the novel, the fact that Christina Courtenay has based it on the Swedish East India Company’s first journey to China in 1732 is particularly impressive. Although the romantic part of the story is fictitious as are the characters, others such as Colin Campbell and the crew members are real. To have them stand side by side blending fiction and fact adds an urgency and dramatic edge to the ship’s adventure.
“They listened to the waves crashing against the sides of the ship”
The addition of the Swedish words and snippets of information creates a full and evocative picture of an exciting and daring time.
Where Next?
