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The Various Flavors of Coffee | 
| Author: Anthony Capella
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $9.93
You Save: $12.07 (55%)
New (35) Used (11) from $9.50
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 94660
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 560
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 0553807323
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780553807325
ASIN: 0553807323
Publication Date: August 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the internationally bestselling author of The Wedding Officer comes a novel whose stunning blend of exotic adventure and erotic passion will intoxicate every reader who tastes of its remarkable delights.
When a woman gives a man coffee, it is a way of showing her desire.
—Abyssinian proverb
It was a cup of coffee that changed Robert Wallis’s life—and a cup of very bad coffee at that. The impoverished poet is sitting in a London coffeehouse contemplating an uncertain future when he meets Samuel Pinker. The owner of Castle Coffee offers Wallace the very last thing a struggling young artiste in fin de siecle England could possibly want: a job.
But the job Wallis accepts—employing his palate and talent for words to compose a “vocabulary of coffee” based on its many subtle and elusive flavors—is only the beginning of an extraordinary adventure in which Wallis will experience the dizzying heights of desire and the excruciating pain of loss. As Wallis finds himself falling hopelessly in love with his coworker, Pinker’s spirited suffragette daughter Emily, both will discover that you cannot awaken one set of senses without affecting all the others.
Their love is tested when Wallis is dispatched on a journey to North Africa in search of the legendary Arab mocca. As he travels to coffee’s fabled birthplace—and learns the fiercely guarded secrets of the trade—Wallis meets Fikre, the defiant, seductive slave of a powerful coffee merchant, who serves him in the traditional Abyssinian coffee ceremony. And when Fikre dares to slip Wallis a single coffee bean, the mysteries of coffee and forbidden passion intermingle…and combine to change history and fate.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Mediocre novel December 10, 2008
Miriam Ginsburg (MA, United States)
The story is rather crudely written, with dialog that's often not too believable, and often belongs in 21st century rather than in the 19th. It is also full of cliches; you know how certain subplots end even before they begin. I can also do without the heavy moralizing about Africans' rights, women's suffrage, commercialization, etc. The happy end, in my opinion, is there simply to end the novel on an up note. On the plus side, though, this is an easy read.
 Coffee tasting is the vehicle by which Capella weaves a character-driven story, richly brewed and blended to fruition November 18, 2008
Bookreporter.com (New York, New York)
A turn-of-the-century English novel, THE VARIOUS FLAVORS OF COFFEE captures the full aroma of life in 1896. Its hero is Robert Wallis, a rakish 22-year-old whose dream is to become a poet. Failing his preliminary examinations at Oxford, he frequents the Regent Street Cafe Royal near Piccadilly. Putting on the airs of a well-to-do dandy, he dresses in impeccable style --- complete with a carnation on his lapel --- and carries a cane. His favorite velvet waistcoat denotes him among the gentry of his day. However, he is nearly broke, having exhausted his father's generosity, and a real job is the farthest thought from his mind.
Nevertheless, Wallis complains at the cafe when served coffee he considers "rusty." Declared pernickety by the waiter, he expounds, "...a well-made cup of coffee is the proper beginning to an idle day. Its aroma beguiling, its taste is sweet.... it resembles, surely, the pleasures of love."
Comparing the present brew to the taste of mud, with a faint aftertaste of rotten apricots, Wallis adds the unpleasant libation to his ongoing tab. A gnome-like gentleman joins him at the table, a middle-aged guy who is to change his life. Samuel Pinker, a coffee importer and distributor, is a man with a vision. He wishes to hire a writer, leaving Wallis with an invitation to meet at Pinker's business address. Curiosity drives Wallis to keep the appointment.
Often pompous, Wallis is a character both to dislike and admire. His sexual appetites are voracious, often inviting complications to achieving his goals. However, his poet's soul enables him to overcome adversity, change perspective and compel the reader to like him better. His taste for flavor is exquisite. Together with Pinker's daughter, Emily, he writes the ledger for a catalog system for the coffees that Pinker's company buys. In the process, Wallis falls in love with Emily but yields to baser temptations when tested. He finds himself banished to Africa, founding a coffee plantation.
There, Wallis surrenders to temptation when he befriends a slave girl, owned by Ibrahim Bey, a coffee broker. From that time forward, a downward swirl engulfs Wallis's fortunes, both financially and personally. Confused, he finds that he can love two women at once, but practically speaking, it is an impossibility.
Wallis's transformation, from a do-nothing young dolt to a mature man whose eyes have opened to the world's realities, is accomplished in THE VARIOUS FLAVORS OF COFFEE. The most mundane coffee drinker should develop an appreciation for the beverage's multifaceted blends of color, taste, aroma, robust or mild content, and varied types of beans.
A subplot develops Emily's aspirations, quite the opposite from Wallis's. The two tug and converge until a twig snaps. Emily's feminist activities drag her down a path of politics, while Wallis deplores public servitude. He seeks to please the elder Pinker but is torn between his own romantic desires and the demands of a businessman. Coffee, its flavors and aromas, provides the stimulus to achieving his dreams.
Anthony Capella uses the form of letters, from Wallis to Emily, while in Africa to develop the plot line. These correspondences detail the landscape of the remote village where Wallis attempts to grow coffee beans and describes the intricate politics of village living, emphasizing the tribal difficulties that make his work nearly impossible. Natives both respect and resent his interference in their rural livelihood. Wallis writes to Philomena, Emily's younger sister, maintaining a casual relationship with her.
English wording from the post-Victorian era causes an occasional stumble. But readers of THE VARIOUS FLAVORS OF COFFEE will gain knowledge of tasting syrup bled from rich beans, possibly representing modern brew methods. Coffee tasting is the vehicle by which Capella weaves a character-driven story, richly brewed and blended to fruition.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
 Much Potential November 13, 2008
Kristi Ahlers (Illinois)
Robert Wallis is a struggling poet who loves coffee, likes to pretend he is a tad bit more affluent then he really is and when he finds himself accepting a position from coffee merchant Samuel Pinker, his life is about to change in ways that he never thought possible. This turn of fate will take him to Africa where he is forced to face not only himself through a forbidden passion but he will learn the mysteries of the coffee trade and have his life change forever.
This story is by turns entertaining a true page turner and a dull drag. Warning...the beginning is good, then it slows...and really doesn't pick up until mid book. This story is really epic in nature, a sensual read with humor and angst a plenty. The reader will be disinclined to like Robert Wallis, but through the course of the book, we are privy to his struggles and his experiences and as a result the reader feels connected to him. Mr. Capella has penned a fine tale, one that will entertain his reader if they give the book a chance.
 Exceptional Book November 3, 2008
zenhen (deep in the bayou)
This was an exceptional book. I have been reading several hoping to find one good enough to recommend to my book club. I think I will recommend this one. It has history, romance, is very well written, and it also very entertaining.
JF
Not enticing November 2, 2008
Theresa E. Miller (BEDFORD, TX USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read 100 pages of this book and just couldn't get into it. The story plodded along and tried to be light-hearted and amusing, but was actually rather crude in parts. I decided not to finish it.
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