#38 [2024/CBR16] The Fraud by Zadie Smith

The Fraud (2023) by Zadie Smith was on many "best of" lists last year. I'd already read On Beauty by Smith, which I really enjoyed. I was hoping for more of the same with The Fraud. Unfortunately for me, I had a hard time getting into this one. I felt like Smith was intentionally writing a book that was difficult to follow, and if you didn't have a strong knowledge of English history, then you were missing out. This was a bit of a slog for me, and I was relieved when I finally finished.

Mrs. Eliza Touchet keeps the house of her cousin-in-law. Her cousin is a writer who is friends with Charlies Dickens and has one successful book to his name. Eliza has helped with the house and his three daughters since their mother died many years before. His new wife, a former maid named Sarah who became pregnant, is nearer in age to his daughters and has none of the academic interests of her new husband and Eliza.

But the one thing that Sarah and Eliza have in common is their interest in the "Tichborne Trial"--where a nobleman who was presumed to have died at sea, shows up in England ready to accept his inheritance. Sarah, of the lower classes, believes every word out of the man's mouth and vigorously defends him while Eliza sees a ridiculous farce. Even when faced with the same evidence, their opinions vary wildly.

The most important witness at this trial is Andrew Bogle who grew up as a slave on the Hope Plantation in Jamaica. This man was with Tichborne as he grew up and would know him best. Bogle consistently defends Tichborne as the real thing.

The novel jumps around throughout much of Eliza's life. We see how she came to be at her cousin's house, her relationship with him, his wife, and their daughters. We also see some scenes where her cousin is hosting a number of writers at his home and how they treat her. 

I know this book received many accolades, and I am a fan of Zadie Smith myself. However, like I said earlier, I had a hard time getting into this novel. There was not much of a plot, and the storyline jumped around so much with so little explanation, that I often felt lost. I could have been interested in a number of these characters if Smith had just settled down and really let me get to know them. There were a number of good scenes and good lines, but the book felt very inconsistent. So, instead, I kept slogging through. I know many others have really enjoyed this novel, but it wasn't for me.