Adam Runaway

1721.
George I is on the throne and Britain is emerging as the world's leading commercial power. Handsome young Adam Hanaway arrives in Lisbon, where his uncle is a merchant, hoping to restore the family fortune, devastated the previous year by his father's speculations on the South Sea Bubble. But almost nothing turns out as Adam planned. His family's welcome is cool and his rise to the top thwarted by his uncle's treacherous head clerk, Bartolomeu Gomes. Nor is Adam, with his gaudy clothes and his young man's swagger, an immediate success with his uncle's fellow merchants. But there are plenty of compensations - perhaps too many ! There is Maria Beatriz, a woman of great personal style and indeterminate age, the incomparably sweet Gabriella, whose innocence Adam unintentionally threatens, and Nancy, his deliciously charming young cousin. Adam is out of his depth, but happily so - until darker forces intervene. In a series of mishaps he is expelled from his uncle's firm, and so Adam must clear his name to win his love, and make his fortune. Adam Runaway is a heady tale of love and death and money, written with great relish and suspense. Here is an unforgettable cast of characters and a magical backdrop - Lisbon : wealthy, cosmopolitan and under the shadow of the Portuguese Inquisition. Rambunctious, bawdy, tender and profound, this is a wonderful read.