The Fraud Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

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For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, Women's Influence in the British Abolition Movement and our BookBrowse Review of The Fraud.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. What did you know about the historical figures and events around which this novel is centered—William Ainsworth, the Tichborne Trial, and Andrew Bogle and the Hope Plantation? How did this story shape your understanding of pieces of history you already knew, or inspire you to inquire deeper into what you didn't?
2. Discuss the relationship between Mrs. Touchet and William. Besides familial ties, what about their personalities, ideologies, and interests maintains their bond until William's death?
3. What kind of legacy do you think Mrs. Touchet (as depicted in the novel) would have left on art and culture had she not been a woman, and/or born into her particular class of society? Compare the way her perspective guides the narration of most of this novel, with how she interprets the writings of William, Dickens, and other writers she spends time with.

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Penguin Press. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.