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A Conspiracy of Paper: A Novel
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780375502927
Edition: 1st
ISBN: 0375502920
Label: Random House
Manufacturer: Random House
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: February 01, 2000
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: February 01, 2000
Studio: Random House
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Editorial Review:
A fool and his money are soon parted--and nowhere so quickly as in the stock market, it would seem. In David Liss's ambitious first novel, A Conspiracy of Paper, the year is 1719 and the place London, where human greed, apparently, operated then in much the same manner as it does today. Liss focuses his intricate tale of murder, money, and conspiracy on Benjamin Weaver, ex-boxer, self-described "protector, guardian, bailiff, constable-for-hire, and thief-taker," and son of a Portuguese Jewish "stock-jobber." Weaver's father, from whom he has been estranged, has recently died, the victim of a horse-drawn carriage hit and run. Though his uncle has suggested that the accident wasn't quite so accidental, Benjamin doesn't give the idea much credence: I blush to own I rewarded his efforts to seek my opinion with only a formal reply in which I dismissed his ideas as nonsensical. I did so in part because I did not wish to involve myself with my family and in part because I knew that my uncle, for reasons that eluded me, had loved my father and could not accept the senselessness of so random a death. But then Benjamin is hired by two different men to solve two seemingly unrelated cases. One client, Mr. Balfour, claims his own father's unexpected death "was made to look like self-murder so that a villain or villains could take his money with impunity," and even suggests there might be a link between Balfour senior's death and that of Weaver's father. His next customer is Sir Owen Nettleton, an aristocrat who is keen to recover some highly confidential papers that were stolen from him while he cavorted with a prostitute. Weaver takes on the first case with some reluctance, the second with more enthusiasm. In the end, both converge, leading him back to his family even as they take him deep into the underbelly of London's financial markets.
Liss seems right at home in the world he's created, whether describing the company manners of wealthy Jewish merchants at home or the inner workings of Exchange Alley--the 18th-century version of Wall Street. His London is a dank and filthy place, almost lawless but for the scant protection offered by such rogues as Jonathan Wilde, the sinister head of a gang of thieves who profits by selling back to their owners items stolen by his own men. Though better connected socially, the investors involved with the shady South Sea Company have equally larcenous hearts, and Liss does an admirable job of leading the reader through the intricacies of stock trading, bond selling, and insider trading with as little fuss, muss, and confusion as possible. What really makes the book come alive, however, are the details of 18th-century life--from the boxing matches our hero once participated in to the coffee houses, gin joints, and brothels where he trolls for clues. And then there is the matter of Weaver's Jewishness, the prejudices of the society he lives in, and his struggle to come to terms with his own ethnicity. A Conspiracy of Paper weaves all these themes together in a manner reminiscent of the long, gossipy novels of Henry Fielding and Laurence Stern. Indeed, Liss manages to suggest the prose style of those authors while keeping his own, less convoluted style. This is one conspiracy guaranteed to succeed. --Alix Wilber
THE HISTORICAL THRILLER OF THE YEARBenjamin Weaver is an outsider in eighteenth-century London: a Jew among Christians; a ruffian among aristocrats; a retired pugilist who, hired by London's gentry, travels through the criminal underworld in pursuit of debtors and thieves.In A Conspiracy of Paper, Weaver investigates a crime of the most personal sort: the mysterious death of his estranged father, a notorious stockjobber. To find the answers, Weaver must contend with a desperate prostitute who knows too much about his past, relatives who remind him of his alienation from the Jewish faith, and a cabal of powerful men in the world of British finance who have hidden their business dealings behind an intricate web of deception and violence. Relying on brains and brawn, Weaver uncovers the beginnings of a strange new economic order based on stock speculation--a way of life that poses great risk for investors but real danger for Weaver and his family.In the tradition of The Alienist and written with scholarly attention to period detail, A Conspiracy of Paper is one of the wittiest and most suspenseful historical novels in recent memory, as well as a perceptive and beguiling depiction of the origin of today's financial markets. In Benjamin Weaver, author David Liss has created an irresistibly appealing protagonist, one who parlays his knowledge of the emerging stock market into a new kind of detective work.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A tale of murders, lies and money
Think of a time where men and women, desperate to make money, buy and sell shares in companies, driving the value up; often borrowing money to further their ambitions, but where a single mishap can lead them into bankruptcy or worse. Think of a corrupt society, where marriage is mostly a sham, where affairs and adultery are winked at. Think of a culture where minorities, whether in race or religion or national origin, are careful to not draw too much attention to themselves lest there be a punishing ... Read More
Rating:  - I'm no longer allowed to choose books for my book club
I picked this book for my book club and now am black-listed from that position for the foreseeable future. I got the furtherest into it, 300+ pages, out of sheer guilt for picking it but it was a hard 300 pages. It was promoted as an "enthralling historical thriller" but ended up being a tiresome bore. At the very least I was hoping to learn something about 18th century London but I didn't like the main character, Benjamin Weaver, wasn't interested in stock-jobbery (a subject that was interjected ... Read More
Rating: - Believable intrigue set in world's first stock market
At its heart it's a private eye novel set in the early 18th century run-up to the South Sea Company bubble, the first stock market crash. But the novel is also far more.
Benjamin Weaver is a former boxing champion and sometime ruffian now making a more honest, if occasionally seamy living, recovering stolen goods in lawless London and taking on other work where a tough and discreet man might be needed. Also a lapsed Jew, he is alienated from his more observant family. He is drawn into ... Read More
Rating:  - Debut novel is entertaining but not very memorable
I read this debut novel by David Liss - a historical novel set in the London of the early 1700s, and dealing with a number of con games setting on the then nascent stock exchange - some years ago, not knowing anything about the writer. The book is a fast read, despite not being a short book at all, and it's quite entertaining. But you are not likely to remember a lot about it after a while - it's exciting to read, well researched, but not very memorable.
Rating:  - british society...interesting...
a fun mystery in 1870's London..no rampant sex scenes. no filthy language..just a lot of fun
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