The Fraud
by Zadie Smith
“What possesses people? Unhappiness, always. Happiness is otherwise occupied. It has an object on which to focus. It has daisies, it has snowdrifts. Unhappiness opens up the void, which then requires filling.” ― Zadie Smith, The Fraud
The book centers on the life of Eliza Touchet, a housekeeper and muse to her cousin by marriage, novelist William Ainsworth, and is set in Victorian England, mostly in London. The Tichborne case, in which an Australian butcher poses as Sir Roger Tichborne, a long-lost aristocrat thought to have perished in a shipwreck, intrigues Eliza.
The Tichborne case serves as a lens to explore class mobility, identity, and the fluidity of social status in Victorian society. The book explores the nature of truth, how people view it, and how it is shaped in social and legal settings. It critiques the literary scene, contrasting the lives and works of real historical figures like Dickens with fictional characters, examining fame, ambition, and the legacy of literature.
Smith employs a narrative rich with dialogue, internal monologues, and varied perspectives, allowing readers to see the events through different eyes. Her writing is renowned for its depth, humor, and skill at fusing contemporary commentary with historical detail.
The book doesn't resolve the Tichborne case in a straightforward manner but uses it to explore broader questions about human nature, society, and storytelling. Eliza's journey through this saga reflects on her own life's fraudulence or authenticity in the roles she plays within her family and society.
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