The Fraud by Zadie Smith

 

England is agog at the trial of the man claiming to be Sir Roger Tichbourne.  Is he really the lost heir to extensive lands and a title or is he an Australian butcher who read the messages offering a reward for news of the heir after his ship was wrecked at sea?  The man on trial is overweight and knows none of the history and languages Sir Roger did.  His speech is common and so are his manners and dress.  But Sir Roger's mother declared he was her son before she died.  A former slave, Andrew Bogle, who grew up on the Tichbourne estates, both in England and Jamaica, also insists this is Sir Roger.  Who is right?

The household of the novelist, William Ainsworth is one that is following the trial raptly.  He was once more popular than Charles Dickens but his work lately has not been well received.  His second wife, his former maid, is a rabid believer in the claimant, loving him for all the common traits that tell against him as she was raised with men like him.  The household is run by Eliza Touchet, a widow who is Andrew's cousin.  She manages the house but also used to manage Andrew's career.  Over the years, she has had affairs with both Andrew and his first wife but these days has given up love.  She in entranced with Andrew Bogle and feels that he is the key to the trial.  

This novel is Zadie Smith's venture into historical fiction but it is much more.  She examines the veracity of what has occurred and the difficulty of pinning down the truth in many situations.  The novel also examines the fraud of declaring slavery unlawful and that those enslaved are free.  How can they be free when they are left with nothing?  When they are not accepted by society or those who had enslaved them?  Then there is the fraud existent in many relationships.  Is Eliza being kind or cruel when she hides the truth about his career from Andrew?  Is it fraud when she hides the sexual relationships she has had within the family?  Readers will read this for the history but find themselves pondering the hidden depths within the novel.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.