The Fraud
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- Create Date：2023-12-01 04:21:46
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Zadie Smith
- ISBN：B0BWL3WR2J
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Summary
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。”
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。”
Reviews
Alison Fleming
，
I spent the first 100 pages EXTREMELY confused （both about the plot and the hype） but once you orient yourself this is so smart and amazing。
Joanne
，
In many ways brilliant， but after a while， the multiple timeframes and storylines undermine each other。
Reader
，
I really tried， but I just couldn’t connect with the story and it felt so monotonous。 I had to give up around halfway through。
Hanna Hamilton
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Struggled to finish
Tina
，
Boring
Hazel
，
Zadie Smith is a master of her craft。 This story was interesting and interestingly put together。 The weaving time periods， the in depth stories of several characters， the story-within-a-story are all testaments to her skills。 However， I found much of the story just plain annoying。
Jorge
，
Fantastic read。 Normally I’m not a big fan of the “best of“ books on many year-end lists。 But this is an exception。 I found it to be a beautifully written， and entertaining。
Mary Markov
，
For me this was just short of 5 stars， partly because I’m not as knowledgeable about Dickens era literature as Zadie Smith is， and I found some of the references challenging。 However， the book was witty and clever and thoughtful。 I enjoyed Mrs。Touchet， the protagonist。 She was intellectually equal to any of the great literary minds that occasionally gathered in her company， but as a woman in the 1800s， she was looked upon more as a sharp hostess。 It frustrated her as much as it annoyed me。You ca For me this was just short of 5 stars， partly because I’m not as knowledgeable about Dickens era literature as Zadie Smith is， and I found some of the references challenging。 However， the book was witty and clever and thoughtful。 I enjoyed Mrs。Touchet， the protagonist。 She was intellectually equal to any of the great literary minds that occasionally gathered in her company， but as a woman in the 1800s， she was looked upon more as a sharp hostess。 It frustrated her as much as it annoyed me。You can’t help making the strange connection between the historic fraud of 1870s London and current times in the U。S。A good， smart book。 Not a page turner， but great writing。 。。。more
Judy Saunders
，
Really disappointing and very hard to follow。
Kathleen
，
The audio version is fantastic with the author narrating and rendering the various accents of the characters。
Avery Wayne
，
- took me two months and incredible willpower to finish- jaw-dropping sentences subsumed by vast oceans of sentences about canonical british authors having dinner， then walking around various parts of england。。。。 that， while historically accurate， i dont particularly care for- i will say， though， that those same jaw-dropping sentences are very self-conscious， and the book itself， being about the futility （or lack thereof） of writing novels， must necessarily be very self conscious。。。 -on that not - took me two months and incredible willpower to finish- jaw-dropping sentences subsumed by vast oceans of sentences about canonical british authors having dinner， then walking around various parts of england。。。。 that， while historically accurate， i dont particularly care for- i will say， though， that those same jaw-dropping sentences are very self-conscious， and the book itself， being about the futility （or lack thereof） of writing novels， must necessarily be very self conscious。。。 -on that note， the self-conscious， obvious style--chapter-opening sentences like “The world is so much， and so various， and all the time – how can it be contained？ Language？”-- is simultaneously very frustrating and very characteristic of the British novels she is writing about。 The reader is effectively smacked on the head with an idea about history/writing/etc。 that in former books Smith would have shown， not told- on that note， in almost every part except for Bogle's， Smith seems to sacrifice readability and her characteristic ZING， and every way that she usually uses language to tell a story， for meta-ness and the idea of the book itself- the touchet/ainsworth spanking stuff is a little bit cheap， at least the constant repetition of it-and yet the end punched me in the gut！！！ even though ive been reading this to fall asleep every night ！！！ i cried a lot its like she was saving all her emotional umph for the last twenty pagesandrea long chu went too far in saying that "zadie smith has lost her teeth"， because this is a very worthy book， but certainly certainly not my favorite of hers！！！like zadie herself writes: “God preserve me from novel-writing， thought Mrs Touchet。 God preserve me from that tragic indulgence， that useless vanity， that blindness！” 。。。more
Boston64329
，
This is a terrific insight into the literary world in England， social issues （wealth inequality; racial inequality and inequality of women） in the early to late 1800s。 It was such an easy read。 The story is told through the primary character Eliza。 The fraud is brought to us in published books by the other main character William who is accused of fraudulently using another's material in his books。; a court case of a common butcher fraudulently claiming a title of nobility。 All of the characters This is a terrific insight into the literary world in England， social issues （wealth inequality; racial inequality and inequality of women） in the early to late 1800s。 It was such an easy read。 The story is told through the primary character Eliza。 The fraud is brought to us in published books by the other main character William who is accused of fraudulently using another's material in his books。; a court case of a common butcher fraudulently claiming a title of nobility。 All of the characters are real people。 I like historical fiction。 。。。more
Megan Rosol
，
I love Zadie Smith's writing and this story is well-done but too much reminiscent of Dicken's writing and I don't like Dickens I love Zadie Smith's writing and this story is well-done but too much reminiscent of Dicken's writing and I don't like Dickens 。。。more
Valerie
，
10 best 2023 nyt
Trish Formoy
，
Three storylines， frequent timeshifts， mostly two-dimensional characters and a lot of padding left me disappointed with this novel。 Not up to the high standard of Zadie Smith's work generally。 Three storylines， frequent timeshifts， mostly two-dimensional characters and a lot of padding left me disappointed with this novel。 Not up to the high standard of Zadie Smith's work generally。 。。。more
Andrea
，
Did not finish。 I could not get into this。 Quit halfway through。
Kathy Cowie
，
This was a terrific book - I especially enjoyed the author reading it！
Ellen H
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Good read。 Didn't resemble any other Smith books I've read。 Good read。 Didn't resemble any other Smith books I've read。 。。。more
Sharlene
，
2。5 no round-up。 i might have to stick with zadie's short essays。 2。5 no round-up。 i might have to stick with zadie's short essays。 。。。more
Wendy
，
No doubt this work was a labor of love and I almost understand the buzz around it。 I found it excruciatingly boring and even had to pause and listen to a couple other books before I could finish it， something I have never done， even with the stupidest audiobooks I've stumbled upon。 My disappointment in this book is eclipsed only by Hanya Yanagihara's To Paradise， but at least we weren't give another 400 pages of excess here。 But most of it is a meandering mess nonetheless。 Also， aside from Dani No doubt this work was a labor of love and I almost understand the buzz around it。 I found it excruciatingly boring and even had to pause and listen to a couple other books before I could finish it， something I have never done， even with the stupidest audiobooks I've stumbled upon。 My disappointment in this book is eclipsed only by Hanya Yanagihara's To Paradise， but at least we weren't give another 400 pages of excess here。 But most of it is a meandering mess nonetheless。 Also， aside from Dani Shapiro， I have yet to hear a fiction author do justice narrating their own work and this was no exception。 Zadie Smith's voice was so unpleasant and unclear I almost gave up in the first few minutes but was so looking forward to this work and knew I would not have time to read the book。 。。。more
Judy
，
I think I read somewhere that Zadie Smith had vowed never to write a historical novel。 Since vows are often made to be broken， she went ahead and wrote one。 I am glad she did because no one writes quite like Zadie， who is either revered or reviled。 I found The Fraud extremely readable and fresh for the way she takes on slavery in Jamaica， voyeurism in 19th century Great Britain， and a woman’s coming to awareness about her life and her complicities。Yes， she goes back and forth in time with no war I think I read somewhere that Zadie Smith had vowed never to write a historical novel。 Since vows are often made to be broken， she went ahead and wrote one。 I am glad she did because no one writes quite like Zadie， who is either revered or reviled。 I found The Fraud extremely readable and fresh for the way she takes on slavery in Jamaica， voyeurism in 19th century Great Britain， and a woman’s coming to awareness about her life and her complicities。Yes， she goes back and forth in time with no warning; yes， she confounded me about the identity of The Fraud; but she also thrilled me with snarky portraits of famous 19th century authors （especially Charles Dickens） and managed to make court room drama palatable for me。 I hate courtroom stories generally。The crowning touch of the novel is Mrs Eliza Touchet。 Such a quintessential Zadie Smith character。 Watching her come out of her constricted life and silenced thoughts into a wise woman of the world was captivating for me。I read the novel with one of my smaller reading groups and I was the only champion of it。 One purely hated it， the other said she learned some things but would not read Zadie Smith again。 Oh well， such is the way of things。 。。。more
Candi
，
“We mistake each other。 Our whole social arrangement a series of mistakes and compromises。 Shorthand for a mystery too large to be seen… Yet even once one had glimpsed behind the veil which separates people， as she had – how hard it proves to keep the lives of others in mind！ Everything conspires against it。 Life itself。”If it were possible to give a book two ratings， I would do just that for my introduction to Zadie Smith， an author I’ve long desired to read。 I would give her book five stars fo “We mistake each other。 Our whole social arrangement a series of mistakes and compromises。 Shorthand for a mystery too large to be seen… Yet even once one had glimpsed behind the veil which separates people， as she had – how hard it proves to keep the lives of others in mind！ Everything conspires against it。 Life itself。”If it were possible to give a book two ratings， I would do just that for my introduction to Zadie Smith， an author I’ve long desired to read。 I would give her book five stars for brilliant， thought-provoking ideas and masterful prose。 On the other hand， I would award this two or three stars based on the merits of this as a strong， cohesive， engaging story。 When I read a novel， it needs to be equally compulsive and propulsive。 This wasn’t。 Yet， there were individual sentences and numerous passages that I recklessly highlighted while thinking， Wow， this is damn good stuff！ First and foremost， however， I believe this is a book about truth and deception。 We convince ourselves and others of our “truths”。 We deliberately lie to others。 Sometimes this is done to ease our consciences， sometimes to achieve or gain something， whether it is money or freedom or even love。 We parade around with our masks securely attached。 We are all frauds of one sort or another。 We don’t let people know our true selves。 Ms。 Smith uses a particular historical event， the Tichborne Trial in England during the 1870s， to illustrate a point， while I’m merely prattling。“But no story captured her quite like the saga of the Tichborne Claimant。 It had everything: toffs， Catholics， money， sex， mistaken identity， an inheritance， High Court Judges， snobbery， exotic locations， ‘the struggle of the honest working man’ – as opposed to the ‘undeserving poor’ – and ‘the power of a mother’s love’。”There’s a lot to be found here besides just the trial， however。 The trial is a vehicle which allows Smith to share her ideas as well as a way for her to illuminate her main character， Eliza Touchet。 She examines racism， particularly in relation to the colonization of Jamaica， feminism， the vocation of a writer， and the class system of England during the nineteenth century。 The idea of “fraud” comes up in nearly every observation she makes through her numerous characters。 The thing I liked best about this as a novel was Eliza。 When Smith allows us those glimpses of Eliza’s reflections， I found myself gobbling those parts right down。 But then we would be off and running with another character， another timeline。 Chapters were short， ranging anywhere from one to maybe three or four pages。 It’s a long book at 451 pages to stay on task with such a disjointed style; it made me feel disconnected。 I don’t know what else to say here。 I’m glad I finally picked up one of Zadie Smith’s books。 I wish I could say I loved it。 I wish I had tried a non-fiction piece instead。 I have a hunch that is the best format for her to share her intelligent mind with us readers。 But I did have a very worthwhile discussion with my friend Lisa， so not all was lost。 In fact， a lot is to be gained from talking with an insightful friend。 I’ll read Smith again， but will reach for a collection of her essays next time around！ See Lisa's thoughts here: Lisa's Review。Since I failed to review this properly， I’ll share some of Smith’s intellectual nourishment:“… the great majority of people turn out to be extraordinarily suggestible， with brains like sieves through which the truth falls。 Fact and fiction meld in their minds。”“There was a bracketed place in her brain where things were both true and not true simultaneously。 In this same space one could love two people。 Live two lives。 Escape and be at home。”“What possesses people？ Unhappiness， always。 Happiness is otherwise occupied。 It has an object on which to focus。 It has daises， it has snowdrifts。 Unhappiness opens up the void， which then requires filling。”“Justice has no time。 It is eternal， it is now， it is yesterday， it is tomorrow。 Every man branded like cattle feels that pain infinitely: it echoes across all time and all space。”“As long as we profess to believe that two people may happily – or feasibly – invest all love and interest in this world solely in one another， till death do them part – well， then life， short as it is， will continue to be a human comedy， punctuated by tragedy。 So she generally thought。 Then there were these moments of grace when she startled herself with the idea that if anybody truly understood what is signified by the word ‘person’， they would consider twelve lifetimes too brief a spell in which to love a single soul。” 。。。more
Liz
，
This story is told from the POV of Eliza， a Scots widow housekeeper/lover to her younger novelist cousin on her husband's side。 Ainsworth， the novelist， was a successful real-life contemporary of Dickens whose story is not well known in the 21 Century。 The main event in the 19th century English setting is the case of the Claimant， a perceived heir who says he was rescued from a shipwreck off South America and taken to Australia。 I confirmed the popularity of the Claimant's case consumed much of This story is told from the POV of Eliza， a Scots widow housekeeper/lover to her younger novelist cousin on her husband's side。 Ainsworth， the novelist， was a successful real-life contemporary of Dickens whose story is not well known in the 21 Century。 The main event in the 19th century English setting is the case of the Claimant， a perceived heir who says he was rescued from a shipwreck off South America and taken to Australia。 I confirmed the popularity of the Claimant's case consumed much of the interest of the masses。 The Claimant travels with a former family servant， son of an African slave， who testifies the Claimant's authenticity and is attended by his son， Henry， who has no tolerance for the social ills of the English in comparison to the effects of slavery。 This is a fascinating historical tale， but I was expecting a big reveal at the end， which didn't transpire， or I just didn't grasp it。 The general takeaway is that everyone is a fraud。 。。。more
Kathy Cole
，
DNF at 30%
Feroz Khan
，
An absolutely fantastic， hilarious， and wholly original book。 The extremely short chapters annoyed me sometimes， but I feel the structure of the novel contributed immensely to the experience。 Filled with alive， funny， multidimensional characters and packed with so many themes that I can barely mention them all in this review。 What does it mean to be a writer？ How can you be privileged and comfortable yet constrained and ill done？ The degrees of freedom， white entitlement， hypocrisy， time， ageing An absolutely fantastic， hilarious， and wholly original book。 The extremely short chapters annoyed me sometimes， but I feel the structure of the novel contributed immensely to the experience。 Filled with alive， funny， multidimensional characters and packed with so many themes that I can barely mention them all in this review。 What does it mean to be a writer？ How can you be privileged and comfortable yet constrained and ill done？ The degrees of freedom， white entitlement， hypocrisy， time， ageing， identity， family， and so much more。 Excited to reread it plus read all of zadie smith's other stuff。 。。。more
Abby
，
'As long as we speak of an island upon which people can suffer - and can cause pain the one to the other - I do not see that an eternity at either end is necessary to render that island of the utmost importance。 Our duties on the island will be many。 They will be never-ending， in fact。 And that， I should think， is enough of eternity for any man， woman or child。'This brought silence to the company。 'As long as we speak of an island upon which people can suffer - and can cause pain the one to the other - I do not see that an eternity at either end is necessary to render that island of the utmost importance。 Our duties on the island will be many。 They will be never-ending， in fact。 And that， I should think， is enough of eternity for any man， woman or child。'This brought silence to the company。 。。。more
Laura
，
This was wonderful and a big departure from her other writings。 It reminded me of Dickens and I love Dickens！
Kaltmamsell
，
Verkauft wird Zadie Smiths neuester Roman （auf den ich mich， wie auf alles von ihr， sehr freute） als "Roman， der sich um einen der bekanntesten Gerichtsfälle Englands dreht: Der Tichborne-Fall" - doch der tritt erst in der zweiten Hälfte des Buchs in den Vordergrund。 Im Mittelpunkt des Romans steht die literarische Welt Englands vom ersten bis zum dritten Viertel des 19。 Jahrhunderts， darin unter anderem Charles Dickens und William Ainsworth。 Erzählt wird er meist aus der Perspektive der Kusine Verkauft wird Zadie Smiths neuester Roman （auf den ich mich， wie auf alles von ihr， sehr freute） als "Roman， der sich um einen der bekanntesten Gerichtsfälle Englands dreht: Der Tichborne-Fall" - doch der tritt erst in der zweiten Hälfte des Buchs in den Vordergrund。 Im Mittelpunkt des Romans steht die literarische Welt Englands vom ersten bis zum dritten Viertel des 19。 Jahrhunderts， darin unter anderem Charles Dickens und William Ainsworth。 Erzählt wird er meist aus der Perspektive der Kusine von William Ainsworth， die ihm unter anderem das Haus führt und heimlich selbst schreibt。 Einige Kapitel bestehen zudem aus der Familiengeschichte von Andrew Bogle， ehemaligem Sklaven aus Jamaika。 Doch all diese Elemente standen für mich mal schlecht verbunden， mal bis zur Lächerlichkeit verkünstelt indirekt erzählt nebeneinander。 Ich bekam die Lektüre nicht zu einem Ganzen， aber jetzt hat Zadie Smith halt das Genre historischer Roman， um das britische Autor*innen ihrer Aussage zufolge nicht herumkommen， abgehakt。 。。。more
Kelsey
，
DNF。 I made it to page 346 before finally throwing in the towel。 The Bogle section was interesting， but I kept waiting for something to happen in the Eliza Touchet chapters， and it just never did。 I wanted to like this novel and gave it a fair shot but I just couldn’t finish it。
Jeff
，
I heard Zadie Smith’s interview regarding “The Fraud” on Fresh Air with Terry Gross。 Smith’s books had been， mentally， in my TBR pile for awhile。 After hearing the interview I decided to tackle “The Fraud。” I had high hopes！Unfortunately， those hopes fell flat。 “The Fraud” is three historical fiction narratives compressed into one: （1） The story of novelist， and “frenemy” of Charles Dickens， Williams Ainsworth; （2） The Tichborne Trial， in which a lower class butcher from Australia pretends to be I heard Zadie Smith’s interview regarding “The Fraud” on Fresh Air with Terry Gross。 Smith’s books had been， mentally， in my TBR pile for awhile。 After hearing the interview I decided to tackle “The Fraud。” I had high hopes！Unfortunately， those hopes fell flat。 “The Fraud” is three historical fiction narratives compressed into one: （1） The story of novelist， and “frenemy” of Charles Dickens， Williams Ainsworth; （2） The Tichborne Trial， in which a lower class butcher from Australia pretends to be the heir an English estate and title; and （3） The story of Andrew Bogle， a formerly enslaved man from Jamaica who is called upon to testify in the trial。 I’m not convinced Smith succeeds in tying these threads together。 It’s almost as if she wrote the narrative out on paper， someone knocked over the stack， and then hastily tried to put the pile back together again。Maybe I’m the wrong audience。 This felt very “English” and seemed to require quite a bit of prior knowledge of 19th century English history to make sense of the narrative。 So many characters and places seemed to just pop in and out of the story without much elaboration。Maybe this wasn’t the best introduction to Zadie Smith？ 。。。more
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Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Fraud
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Fraud&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Fraud&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0