It pains me to give a Zadie Smith book 3 stars! I'm not even sure what to say about this latest by one of my favorite authors. 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.” Smith, in her most commanding novel to date, dramatizes with all-too relevant insights crucial questions of veracity and mendacity, privilege and tyranny, survival and self, trust and betrayal . . . Smith is always a must-read, and this spectacularly entertaining and resonant historical novel will have enormous appeal.” — Booklist (starred review)

She had always noticed a great many Chinese and Indian seamen in this area and they were all still here, but there were also several newer shops with their signs written in the ancient script of the Jews, and a small delegation of Turks - or at least men in fez hats - peering into the windows of a jeweller. Smith’s dazzling historical novel combines deft writing and strenuous construction in a tale of literary London and the horrors of slavery’ GuardianOne of Tichborne’s supporters was Andrew Bogle, a former slave who knew Roger Tichborne as a child. His unwavering conviction that The Claimant was really Tichborne represents another form of truth, and Eliza’s discussions with him open the window on the economic and racial interactions between England and Jamaica. Eliza's character. It's complex and multi-layered, she wrestles with her conscience at times, and I would like to see more of her internal struggle.

William made a face like a dog eating a lemon. ‘Couldn’t get through volume one–and aren’t there seven more to come? Once upon a time decent men satisfied themselves with three . . . What on earth does the woman need with so many?I was off and on engaged in this story. I wasn't sure what Smith's aim was. To tell a fictionalized story of a true event that had England enraptured? To write a historical novel featuring real authors of the mid-19th century? There are multiple parts to the story. It worked best when Smith concentrated on Eliza Touchet, the cousin by marriage of William Ainsworth. Through her eyes, we get to see the “Tichborne trial” when Roger Castro, an Australian butcher attempts to prove he is the true Lord Roger Tichborne. Andrew Bogle is a former Jamaican slave who swears that the claimant is truly Lord Tichborne. There’s a whole section devoted to his past and while I get why Smith wrote it, it also took me out of the primary story.