Lead Review
- Book: A Harvest of Thorns
- Location: Bangladesh, Dhaka, Malaysia (Malaya), Virginia, Washington DC
- Author: Corban Addison
I first came across Corban Addison when we reviewed The Garden of Burning Sand and A Walk Across the Sun. These novels have stuck with me to this day. Essentially it was the passion and quality of his writing that dug deep. And once again – in this novel – he has taken on a huge subject. In A Harvest of Thorns he tackles injustice, the big conglomerates at the sharp end of the fashion industry versus the poor and displaced of the world. This is the kind of book that can change your thinking and the way in which you view of the world.
Presto is the largest retailer in the States for clothing, ranging from the cheaper end – Piccolo – to more upmarket styles in the Porto Bari range. It is a beloved brand for the American people. “The story of Presto was a legend in American business“. Originally established in the 1960s with the welfare in mind of both workers and buyers of the goods, the founders went to great lengths to ensure that theirs was not an exploitative supply chain. They chose ‘warm and feel-good’ names for the brands, borrowed from the Italian, to give a sense of family, love and of the culturally exotic. But as the years have passed, the shareholders have become increasingly demanding of greater dividends, and the company is pitted against ruthless competition where cost cutting and low prices are fundamental. “quality…at an unbeatable price. That’s the holy grail of retail.” It seems the company has swung away from the ideals of the forefathers and moved towards the bottom line, focussing more on the phenomenal profit margins.
But this change comes at a cost as Presto is soon to find out….
The book opens with a fire in Bangladesh, at Millennium Fashions, a garment factory, where many hundreds of the workers have been killed. Only three fire extinguishers for a 1000 workers! This company – once used by Presto – is now blacklisted (or on their “red” list as they classify it). So, how come there is a photo of a child, dead at the scene, with a pair of children’s trousers draped over her face, the Presto company insignia “P” only too clearly visible? The photo has instantly gone viral. There is a tsunami of negative publicity building and Cameron, the head lawyer of the company, takes on the onus of unravelling the supply chain issues. It is damage limitation whilst an investigation ensues into corruption and blame. And for him it is also about humanitarian concerns. He also has to manage the enmity between sourcing and compliance, no mean feat.
The author is incredibly adept at developing a core story and then feeding in the personal stories of his characters to enhance the narrative. Cameron has a tragic backstory that makes his determination to right the wrongs all that more understandable. The writing feels very real and it is often very sobering in its content. He is informative too, who know that “…the production of textiles was one of the most prolific sources of water pollution the world”?
I think of the author in terms of John Grisham “light”. I find Grisham’s stories at times hard to penetrate, and so Addison’s storylines feel that much more accessible. They are set in a real world where there is dreadful exploitation and injustice. He is an author who will take up a cause and bring it to a wider audience with great panache. An author with a social conscience. Having read this novel we will all surely think more carefully about the origin of our clothing? If this book is anything to go by, it behoves us to do so!
The locations in the novel feel credible too, whether dining in Old Ebbit Grill near The White House in Washington or Izumi in Dhaka, he manages to create a colourful and absorbing backdrop.
Recommended.
And on this link we talk to Corban about his research of locale….
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