Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Fraud

  • By: Zadie Smith
  • Narrated by: Zadie Smith
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (115 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Fraud

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Zadie Smith
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The extraordinary first historical novel from bestselling author of White Teeth Zadie Smith.

It is 1873. Mrs Eliza Touchet is the Scottish 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'.

©2023 Zadie Smith (P)2023 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Youth cover art
Julia cover art
The Godmakers cover art
David Copperfield cover art
We Hope for Better Things cover art
The Dream cover art
Bittersweet cover art
Parable of the Sower cover art
The Known World cover art
Hard Times cover art
Kindred cover art
Invisible Man cover art
Barnaby Rudge cover art
My Lady Ludlow cover art
The Personal Librarian cover art
Mary Barton cover art

Critic reviews

This was really delightful. 10/10. Zadie Smith is a genius (Brandon Taylor)
The Fraud is brilliantly funny and sharply observed . . . Zadie Smith paints the Victorian era in vivid colour, offering us a clear view of the simmering tensions that gave birth to a growing and universal cry for freedom, shaking the notion of the benevolent British Empire (Paterson Joseph)

What listeners say about The Fraud

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    39
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    27
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    21
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    23
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great in parts…but the narration was terrible.

Zadie Smith fan here, and so excited to listen to one of her books for the first time, versus reading hard copy.

The story was entertaining, much stronger in some parts than others (the history of Mr Bogle being standout). Strong characterisation helped prop up the slightly slower parts of the novel, and overall it was a story worth knowing.

But I have to say, the narration was really poor, particularly for the first few hours. It was my sheer force of will to unravel the story that had me push past it. Ms Smith speaks with a lisp for the majority of these first hours, which made some parts unintelligible and meant that I had to rewind several times to strain to understand. Of course, having a lisp is nothing to apologise for, but upon investigation I read an interview with Smith in the Evening Standard where she comments “I also had a mouth brace in so it’s a bad Scottish accent and a lisp, so enjoy nine hours of that.”
Once I read that I was disappointed and frustrated that she chose to take on the narration, with an awareness that it might impact the enjoyment of the listener. It really did detract from the experience for me. So I would suggest you listen to the sample, to see if it’s for you. In retrospect, I would have bought in hard copy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t listen - should have had someone else read

Zadie Smith’s narration was just to hard to listen to, sorry! So, can’t comment on the story. Gave up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding

Zadie Smith is marvellous reading her latest novel. The audiobook really added something to my reading experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it, the clever tapestry of stories reminded me of White Teeth

Absolutely genius the way so very much of this novel translates to current affairs, two hundred years later. It’s the kind of story I’ll have to listen to at least once more and also buy a hard copy of!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

I’m a great admirer of her writing, but her narration, particularly her attempts at accents, irritated me all the way through. Had it not been for the quality of the writing, would have abandoned it after first chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Accents

This novel although well written and absorbing was spoiled by Zadie Smith’s reading. To have the main character Scottish but to render her speech foreign to any Scottish person - the Irish accent was no better - as a strangled screech at times jarred with me !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Poor narration spoils this book

Zadie smith is proof that a great writer is not necessarily a great narrator. Was this an economising move? Poor decision. Her lack of performance skills made this story unbearable to listen to. I wish Id taken heed of the reviews before purchasing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Monotonous

So disappointed in this novel. I’ve given up half way through, for as much as I have loved other Smith works, she gives a monotonous and lacklustre performance as the narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good fun with a heart

It seems a number of listeners did not enjoy Zadie Smith’s reading. Maybe it is because I am an American, but I thought her performance was terrific. As is the structure and content of the novel, which pokes fun at Dickensian writing while cleverly pulling off its own substantive imitation. Good fun and well worth a listen, or a read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Zadie

I really enjoyed this.

It's very good in the respects Zadie Smith is usually good. Exuberant; lively dialogue; sharply observant; reflective and critical; full of information; jostling with different perspectives, life experiences, ways of perceiving and thinking. The historical material she's used is fascinating and has some obvious contemporary resonances.

I think the book is rather weak in the area I generally find Zadie Smith's books to be weak, namely structure. In my view, her books are usually longer than they should be, tending to lose momentum after starting brilliantly. This makes them a little disappointing, but only because they initially promise so much.

Zadie Smith's reading is amazingly good for a non-professional. It's a real plus to have the book in her voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful