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A review by jmatkinson1
The Vanishing Children by Graham Brack
4.0
For some reason the Stadhouder William of Orange believes Master Mercurius is an excellent diplomat and so he asks him to go to Amsterdam and persuade the Mayors of the city that they need to pay taxes. Mercurius does not believe he is a great diplomat but it is not a good idea to refuse the Stadhouder so he goes to Amsterdam. His secondary mission is to find out if there are any plots against the capricious and paranoid William. Whilst there he discovers that three Jewish children have disappeared and he commits to helping that community.
As ever this is a fun and clever outing for Master Mercurius, the ordained Catholic priest and Reformed minister. Here the main setting is Amsterdam in the earlier days of the VOC, as the foundations for the Golden Age are being set. All the plot lines are neatly drawn and tidied up by the end but with a strong degree of political understanding. Here the plight of the Sephardic Jews is juxtaposed with the riches of the merchants and the instability of European politics, a heady mix and beautifully imagined
As ever this is a fun and clever outing for Master Mercurius, the ordained Catholic priest and Reformed minister. Here the main setting is Amsterdam in the earlier days of the VOC, as the foundations for the Golden Age are being set. All the plot lines are neatly drawn and tidied up by the end but with a strong degree of political understanding. Here the plight of the Sephardic Jews is juxtaposed with the riches of the merchants and the instability of European politics, a heady mix and beautifully imagined