The Fraud

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. In the novel, William Ainsworth finds some success as a novelist but is not able to maintain a successful career in the long term. Can you think of other examples of individuals who seemed to have talent but lack the ability to cultivate a sustainable career? What seems to differentiate someone who can maintain success over a long period of time?

2. William and Eliza’s complex and enduring relationship is significant for both of them, and Eliza mourns deeply when William dies. How would you define the people who have had the most significant impact on your life? Does a relationship need to be positive in order for it to be impactful on someone’s life?

3. The Tichborne case created significant controversy in England because some people believed in the claimant and others did not. Within your lived experience, what significant social or political controversies have you witnessed? What factors led to people taking one side or the other?

4. The Tichborne case relies on the claim that trauma (due to shipwreck) can lead to a loss of memory. Has there ever been a time when your memory of events turned out to be inaccurate? Do you believe that a heightened emotional state can impact someone’s memories?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. As a Catholic woman in Victorian England, Eliza lacks some agency and experiences marginalization. However, she also has significant privilege—e.g., she is white—which she often fails to recognize, especially when she co-opts Bogel’s story. What do you think the novel has to say about identity, intersectionality, and privilege? How can we decide who is appropriately positioned to tell what stories?

2. William Harrison Ainsworth (a historical figure) is now a fairly obscure Victorian novelist whose books are rarely read. Charles Dickens, by contrast, remains a famous and widely read author. How does Smith use her novel to comment on fame, memory, and legacy? What makes some art endure beyond the time period in which it was created?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The Fraud features a combination of imagined storylines and historical figures (such as William Ainsworth and Charles Dickens). What does this technique of blending fiction and history accomplish, narratively and thematically? Would you have been equally interested or invested in a nonfiction account of the Tichborne case or a biography of Ainsworth?

2. As a working-class character whose social status changes significantly after her marriage, what does Sarah’s perspective bring to the novel? What do her sympathies and biases reveal? 

3. Charles Dickens appears as a character within the novel and symbolizes some of the most important legacies of the Victorian era. Compare and contrast The Fraud with one of Dickens’s novels (consider Great Expectations or Bleak House). What themes or concerns are shared by both novels, and how do they diverge?

4. The Fraud features a lengthy “story within a story” when Andrew Bogel narrates the story of his life to Eliza. What was the effect of this section within the novel? Did you enjoy it more or less than the primary narrative?

5. At the end of his life, Andrew Bogel is buried in an unmarked grave. What does this grave symbolize, especially in contrast to the lavish funeral and memorial for Dickens (described earlier in the novel)?

6. Discuss the significance of the title, which is also the title of Eliza’s book: Who or what is revealed to be a fraud?