Fran's Reviews > The Fraud

This historical fiction is loosely based on real life incidents - a trial in nineteenth century England involving a claimant to an estate and a popular author whose works are no longer read. The main character, Eliza Touchet, was the widow of a cousin of William Ainsworth, the author. There are many themes, ranging from family relationships to British writers to slavery to nineteenth century British inheritance laws. Parts of the book were brilliant, especially the sections about the experience of enslaved people in Jamaica. But the structure was confusing, with very short chapters, jumping back and forth between the 1830’s and the 1870’s, with the years not always made clear. The choppy structure also interrupted the narrative and character development. I did re-rate it higher because, despite it being a reading challenge, the characters and parts of the narrative have stuck with me and I have been thinking about it.