The Fraud

This book may just as well have been written with me as the specific target audience. A short list of things I adore:

-- 19th century literature -- 19th century London -- books that include Dickens as a character (and portray him as an asshole) -- complicated bisexual heroines (lock up your husband AND your wife, Eliza is coming for them both)

Smith took a rather obscure historical event and a person who was previously not much more than a name scrawled in a famous book and breathed tremendous life into all of it. Reading this was just as rich and rewarding as reading anything by my beloved Victorians. (Although certainly more rewarding anything by Ainsworth, judging by the short passages Smith quotes in the book. It does not surprise me that dear William has largely been forgotten and is no longer in print at all.)

I adored Eliza. She's lonely and independent, both yearning for freedom and terrified of it. She feels everything very deeply and lets almost none of it show to others. Her empathy leads her to the abolition movement and eventually towards her attempt at friendship with Mr. Bogle. They're both people who would be side characters at best in a Dickens novel: the caustic spinster and the noble, tragic man who escaped slavery. But here they are full people, with complicated histories and motivations.

Smith is a joy to read and I loved how this novel skipped through time and place to provide an expansive view of this era and its people. I think I could read this novel many more times and get something new out of it every time. Who gets to be seen as "authentic," who gets to decide the truth? And who gets to tell their own story?

The Fraud by Zadie Smith is a captivating historical fiction novel that transports readers to 19th-century England, delving into the intricacies of a celebrated criminal trial, the Tichborne case. With meticulous attention to detail, Smith weaves a tale that revolves around Eliza Touchet, a Scottish widow who finds herself entangled in the life of William Ainsworth, a popular Victorian novelist.

William Ainsworth, who was Charles Dickens’ friend and a more successful author in their early years, is portrayed as a waning literary figure who is fighting to stay relevant. He serves as a symbol of the challenges faced by writers during Victorian England, as new literary movements and tastes began to emerge.

The big trial and the unfolding social and psychological drama are what drive the plot of the novel. Eliza Touchet's interest is piqued by one of the primary witnesses in the trial, the enigmatic figure of Andrew Bogle, an elderly Jamaican who holds the secrets of a past shrouded in the brutality of slavery. 

Smith delves into the darker aspects of the era, shedding light on the British colonial slave trade and the abolitionist movement. Drawing upon historical events and the experiences of characters like Andrew Bogle, Smith portrays the harsh realities of colonization and the complexities of navigating a society where racism and prejudice are deeply ingrained.

No exploration of Victorian England would be complete without acknowledging the influence of the iconic Charles Dickens. Smith deftly utilises his character to delve into the contradictions and complexities of Victorian England. It was an era of major transformations in most aspects of English life, from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society. Authors like Thomas Carlyle began to direct their attention toward social issues, highlighting the dehumanizing effects of the Industrial Revolution.

Dickens' role as a social commentator and his critique of the worst excesses of Victorian society are explored through the lens of Eliza Touchet. Dickens is credited with bringing novelists to a new level of moral and political stature, something that Eliza Touchet objects to on ethical grounds. Dickens, while celebrated for being sympathetic to the plight of the poor and disadvantaged in British society, has also been criticized for his attitudes, which have been perceived as racist and xenophobic.

Through Mrs Touchet, Smith is challenging Victorian ideas of gender and sexuality. The Victorian era was characterised by rigid gender roles and societal expectations of women. Domesticity, motherhood, and the preservation of moral standards were considered paramount. However, despite the restrictions, women made some progress in the 19th century. While they did not have the right to vote, sue, or, if married, own property, as Britain transformed into an industrial nation, Victorian feminism emerged as a significant political force.