I’ve heard a lot about Zadie Smith over the years. I was gifted a copy of White Teeth on my 13th birthday courtesy of an overeager salesman. I had high hopes at the time because the only other person I knew who had read it, LOVED it. She also happened to be five years older than me and had already transitioned into a Full Fledged adult. I didn’t get through the first chapter.
I have always meant to go back to White Teeth. At the ripe old age of Spinster, I think I’m finally at a point in my life where I think I can actually appreciate it, or at the very least give it a fair chance. All of this to say, when I found out about The Fraud, a historical fiction (historically my bag), about a sensational trial (that I was at one point obsessed with), by Zadie Smith (an author I convinced myself I would love), it was like the book was written for me. Add to that the inclusion of a Jamaican character, the book seemed like something different than your regular run of the mill White Person Being Sad During A Time Of Great Change fiction. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed.
The Fraud, despite what the synopsis may try to tell you, is not about Eliza Touchet and Andrew Bogle and the Tichborne Trial. It is about Eliza Touchet. Despite my misgivings about this book, Smith’s character building is solid. Touchet is a multi-dimensional character whom I would have loved in any other book. She has a long, sordid history with her cousin for whom she presently acts as a caretaker, and holds a special kind of power in the household. The problem lies in the fact that her history is essentially all she is. The books spends so much time in the past, building Eliza up, fleshing out what felt like every second of her life over the span of roughly four decades, that in the end, the present day Eliza that we occasionally get to spend time with doesn’t really have anywhere to go. There is no forward momentum in terms of her character, leaving me wondering why the author chose to focus on her at this specific time of her life. If there was really any other reason besides actual historical dates and the sensationalism of the trial, I couldn’t figure it out.
Then there is Andrew Bogle. If there was one section of this book that actually had me gripped, it was the volumes focusing on Bogle’s family history. The change in setting from Victorian England to a Jamaican slave plantation was jarring in the best way. Smith’s writing paints a visceral picture of both the physical environment and the experiences of the people forced to work there. The pacing in the section is also extremely well done and effective. It moves briskly in places, reminiscent of faded memories rushing through one’s mind, and lingers in places that are sharper for Bogle, for reasons of recency or importance. Bogle as a character too is fascinating. While I felt Eliza’s history bogs the book down, Bogle’s gives it some much needed depth and purpose. Unfortunately for me, the Jamaica volumes make up but a fraction of the book.
Suffice it to say, I would have rather the book paid more attention to a character like Bogle instead of Touchet. I would have also taken it being framed differently, a little less of a focus on the trial both in terms of marketing and the amount of time spent in the courtroom which essentially amounts to nothing in terms of how it helps the progression of our main character. If the books was framed as a personal history like Bogle’s section is, I would have been more forgiving about the stagnant nature of the main character in present day.
I also would have been okay with it if the book actually had a plot, but just like Eliza, it seems content to slug along for a minute and then rest forever. I am a firm believer in the idea that not all characters need to have arcs, but I think an important part of arc-less characters is an external source of momentum that keeps the book going. I could not tell you what The Fraud is about. It feels disingenuous to say that it’s about Eliza, which seems to be the marketing line. But if it’s not about her, what is it even about? Nothing really happens in this book, it’s just people moving from one house to another, and it’s not as engaging as an Austen. I feel like the (almost criminally) short chapters were a way to keep reader engaged and make it feel like more was happening, but for me they were mostly distracting and oftentimes confusing.
I didn’t know a book sold on its connection to a sensational trial would be this drab, but I don’t feel like I’m ready to give up on Smith yet. Despite all my issues with this book, the parts that worked really worked. White Teeth, I may come for you yet.