A Conspiracy of Paper

A Conspiracy of Paper (2000) David Liss

It’s 1719. Benjamin Weaver is a Jew and a thief-taker and an ex-boxer, all of which set him apart from the rest of London society, but it is his work as a thief-taker which leads him to the intrigues of the 18th century stock market, as well as to answering the question of whether his own father’s death was in fact a murder and not an accident.

I’m fond of historical mysteries, especially if the author has gone to some length to get the details correct. Although the character of Benjamin Weaver is not historical, many of the other characters in the story, including Jonathan Wild–one of London’s first crime lords–were real characters. For me, that itself made the story worth reading, learning about an unfamiliar time and place. But the story itself, and the mystery within, turned out to be a fascinating one.

The story starts slowly. Benjamin is hired by different people for different jobs, and in looking into the death of his father, begins to learn about his fathers job–stock jobbing. It isn’t until about halfway through that the story started to pick up and really drew me into the tale.

The language and tone are also reflective of what I expect in stories of that time period:

For some years now, the gentlemen of the book trade have pressed me in the most urgent fashion to commit my memoirs to paper; for, these men have argued, there are many who would gladly pay a few shillings to learn of the true and surprising adventures of my life. While it has been my practice to dismiss this idea with a casual wave of the hand, I cannot claim never to have seriously thought on it, for I have often been the first to congratulate myself on having seen and experienced so much, and many times have I gladly shared my stories with good company around a cleared dinner table.

I was intrigued by London society and the place the Benjamin Weaver, as a Jew, held in that society. I found it surprising that he was so integrated into “regular” London society, and am curious about the accuracy of that. Although there were instances in the story where Jews–primarily traditional immigrants–were obviously treated badly, Benjamin Weaver was far more integrated into the society than I would have expected, although that may have been due in part to the fact that he did not follow Jewish traditions too carefully, and was often not recognized as Jewish.

As I said, the story started slowly, but picked up gradually until I was drawn in. It also wasn’t a fast read. I started this book about a month ago, but it wasn’t until this week that I really got into the story. But it was good and it was interesting, and I enjoyed it.

If you like mysteries, and you like historical stories, then you should enjoy this book.
Rating: 7/10

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