I strongly recommend this novel, the first of a family saga, which I read as a second language. I love novels set in Hamburg about the Hanseatic period, focussing on shipping, as in this novel, and the Speicherstadt, with the trade of the coffee or chocolate trade, for example, as in the more recent similar novels, which I also enjoy reading. This novel is the first in a "Quadrilogy", or "Tetralogy", and I have already obtained "Preloved" copies of the following three novels. It's such a pity that the series is not being reprinted; maybe because the author, Christa Kanitz, is no longer alive? I can't wait to continue reading this wonderful family saga, and have no hesitation in giving it 5 stars. Angela Loriente.
Entertaining and clever, but not much new, it´s more the usual story from the genre. Read it because it is one of the historic/ cheesy novels I still had on my shelf. Might not follow the other parts although it was entertaining.