The Fraud

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DESCRIPTION : Truth and fiction. Jamaica and Britain. Who gets to tell their story? Zadie Smith returns with her first historical novel.It is 1873. Mrs Eliza Touchet is the Scottis h housekeeper - and cousin by marriage - of a once famous novelist, now in decline, William Ainsworth, with whom she has lived for thirty years.Mrs Touchet is a woman of many interests: literature, justice, abolitionism, class, her cousin, his wives, this life and the next. But she is also sceptical. She suspects her cousin of having no talent; his successful friend, Mr Charles Dickens, of being a bully and a moralist; and England of being a land of facades, in which nothing is quite what it seems.Andrew Bogle meanwhile grew up enslaved on the Hope Plantation, Jamaica. He knows every lump of sugar comes at a human cost. That the rich deceive the poor. And that people are more easily manipulated than they realise. When Bogle finds himself in London, star witness in a celebrated case of imposture, he knows his future depends on telling the right story.The 'Tichborne Trial' captivates Mrs Touchet and all of England. Is Sir Roger Tichborne really who he says he is? Or is he a fraud? Mrs Touchet is a woman of the world. Mr Bogle is no fool. But in a world of hypocrisy and self-deception, deciding what is real proves a complicated task...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.'PRAISE FOR ZADIE SMITH:'A writer of remarkable wit and originality' Observer'[Smith] packs more intelligence, humour and sheer energy into any given scene than anyone else of her generation' Sunday Telegraph'A brilliant writer' A M Homes'She's a genius' Dolly Alderton'Zadie Smith is a national treasure' James Gleick'A tremendous talent . . . Smith is simply wonderful' Boyd Tonkin, Independent PRODUCT DETAILS : ISBN : 9780241337004 BY (AUTHOR) Smith, Zadie PUBLISHER : Penguin Books Ltd PUBLICATION DATE : September 07, 2023 COUNTRY OF PUBLICATION : United Kingdom IMPRINT : Hamish Hamilton Ltd LANGUAGE : English AGE : General PRODUCT FORM : Paperback / softback DIMENSION : 234 mm x 153 mm WEIGHT : 558 g PRODUCT CATEGORY : Fiction & Related items Show more