The Fraud - Zadie Smith
My girl Zadie is BACK!! And she has taken the life of an obscure writer and turned it into a novel that would make Dickens proud.
I have never heard of William Harrison Ainsworth. But after reading The Fraud, I may have to check him out. Zadie Smith created a fictionalized version of his life and the life of his cousin by marriage, Elizabeth Touchet. Elizabeth is extremely interesting and the main character of the book. Before living with William and his family, Elizabeth was a married woman with a child until things turned sideways. She moves in with William, his first wife Annie and their three girls. William is a writer and friends with other writers, like Charles Dickens, who come to his home frequently for rambunctious dinners and port wine. The book spans 30 years, as Elizabeth moves through the world alongside her cousin and his family.
Elizabeth’s story becomes even more interesting when she attends the circus that is the Tichborne Trials, a true case about an Australian butcher who claims to be the heir to the Tichborne estate. There, Elizabeth meets Andrew Bogle, a formerly enslaved Black man who gives testimony in support of said butcher. Elizabeth is fascinated with Mr. Bogle, in the way white people are “fascinated’ by anyone who isn’t white.
Mr. Bogle’s backstory is compelling, especially when reading how he went from enslaved to servant to free man. For Mr. Bogle, the circumstances and location may have changed when he left the plantation in Jamaica and moved to England to work for the Doughty family, but he still was not a free man compared to his white counterparts. When he finally left for Australia, I was so happy for him. So imagine my surprise when I learned he returned to England to support the supposed Tichborne heir. I hope in another life, Mr. Bogle left that guy to his own devices and continued to live in his own freedom.
It is no secret that I am a Zadie Smith stan. I read her first novel, White Teeth, when I was in college and have read just about everything she’s written except The Autograph Man and The Wife of Willesden. When I tell I read The Fraud so damn fast! I was nervous I missed some things, so I’ll definitely be reading it again. The chapters are super short and the language is that of a Dickens novel but better, which I enjoyed so much. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book like this and not gonna lie, I would love another one from this author. Zadie Smith is incredibly good at historical fiction, so much so that I felt like I was in the book, having drinks with William and his guests, watching the trial and the shenanigans put forth by the witnesses, lawyers and spectators, and sitting in a chophouse with Mr. Bogle, listening to his story.
The Fraud is out now so get your copy from your local bookstore or library.
Where to buy: The Lit. Bar Loyalty Bookstores Amazon
Zadie Smith, author of The Fraud. Photo courtesy of Ben Bailey-Smith.
For more information about the author, please click here.
