The Fraud: A Novel
The New York Times bestseller - One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year - One of NPR's Best Books of the Year - Named a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly and BookPage - One of Oprah Daily's Best Novels of 2023 "[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."
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
A brilliant and enlightening look at populism via the historical lens of The Claimant’s story. Meticulously researched revealing the echoes of social and racial injustice and inequality across centuries. The protagonist, Eliza, is intelligent, witty and utterly overlooked by society in the late 1800s. Andrew Bogle’s story is heartbreaking. Well worth your time and consideration in 2024!
Zadie Smith may have done great research, but I hated her writing. It felt like she could not get her act together enough to WRITE and so I was left struggling to put the pieces together. Not to mention how annoying the 'glimpses' were, instead of chapters. I literally only read this book to the end because of the book club, I would have dropped it right at the start otherwise.
What a slog. Just an unorganized mishmash of stories. I don't know what compelled me to keep going. I think I was hoping once we really got into the trial, the focus would sharpen, but no, here we go again, back into the past, or was it the future, and talking about whatzername or whozits and I just didn't get it.
If you haven't read any Zadie Smith, read ANYTHING ELSE of hers but this. I usually love her writing.
If you haven't read any Zadie Smith, read ANYTHING ELSE of hers but this. I usually love her writing.
I was looking forward to this novel, but barely finished.
For me— there was “no hook” nothing grabbed me! It was so Slow, and scattered.
One of the best published book I have read ever, Andrew Bogle's life story and his account of his family's upbringing on the Hope Plantation in Jamaica constitute the most compelling aspects of The Fraud. It brings to mind how the oral storytelling customs of Africa have caused us to lose most of our history. Speaking from memory, Mr. Bogle described the stories and values he had been raised with regarding his family's life.
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