The Fraud: A Novel
"[A] brilliant new entry in Smith's catalog . . . The Fraud is not a change for Smith, but a demonstration of how expansive her talents are." --Los Angeles Times
From acclaimed and bestselling novelist Zadie Smith, a kaleidoscopic work of historical fiction set against the legal trial that divided Victorian England, about who gets to tell their story--and who gets to be believed
It is 1873. Mrs. Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper--and cousin by marriage--of a once-famous novelist, now in decline, William Ainsworth, with whom she has lived for thirty years.
Mrs. Touchet is a woman of many interests: literature, justice, abolitionism, class, her cousin, his wives, this life and the next. But she is also sceptical. She suspects her cousin of having no talent; his successful friend, Mr. Charles Dickens, of being a bully and a moralist; and England of being a land of facades, in which nothing is quite what it seems.
Andrew Bogle, meanwhile, grew up enslaved on the Hope Plantation, Jamaica. He knows every lump of sugar comes at a human cost. That the rich deceive the poor. And that people are more easily manipulated than they realize. When Bogle finds himself in London, star witness in a celebrated case of imposture, he knows his future depends on telling the right story.
The "Tichborne Trial"--wherein a lower-class butcher from Australia claimed he was in fact the rightful heir of a sizable estate and title--captivates Mrs. Touchet and all of England. Is Sir Roger Tichborne really who he says he is? Or is he a fraud? Mrs. Touchet is a woman of the world. Mr. Bogle is no fool. But in a world of hypocrisy and self-deception, deciding what is real proves a complicated task. . . .
Based on real historical events, The Fraud is a dazzling novel about truth and fiction, Jamaica and Britain, fraudulence and authenticity and the mystery of "other people."
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Community Reviews
What’s it about?
In 1873 Mrs. Eliza Touchet finds herself looking back on her life. She has spent the last thirty years as the housekeeper to her cousin-by-marriage William Ainsworth. William is a prominent novelist whose popularity has been going straight down hill for almost as long as she has been employed. We see much of the 1800’s through Mrs. Touchet’s eyes- and it is quite a view.
What did it make me think about?
Mrs. Eliza Touchet was just a great literary character.
Should I read it?
Well I swore I would never read another Zadie Smith novel after diligently suffering through “White Teeth” back in 2000. It was unanimously disliked among my whole book club- even after we discussed it. And yet, it is supposedly Zadie Smith’s best book…. If I read it now would I like it any better? Doubtful!
So, I was biased against this book and ended up really enjoying it. “The Fraud” was about 100 pages too long but Mrs. Touchet made the whole novel worth reading. What a great character Zadie Smith created- and how interesting to see London through her eyes. So many subjects are touched on in this novel that I cannot begin to list them all. Power, freedom, and what we see as truth were probably the themes that struck me most- but you could talk about this novel for a long time. I am glad I lifted my Zadie Smith ban for this one. Who knew she had such a great sense of humor? “She had come out of curiosity. As much as Eliza hated awful people, she also could never resist them.” I think any bookclub would have a great discussion about this novel.
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“Was he really good or did he only want to be seen to be good? Does it matter?”
If you haven't read any Zadie Smith, read ANYTHING ELSE of hers but this. I usually love her writing.
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