Book Review | Writer’s muse parses a Victorian court drama

At the heart of this novel is a notorious court case in nineteenth century Britain which came to be known as the Tichborne Trial. The case in British civil and criminal courts would continue for over a decade till Orton’s claim would be dismissed and later he would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to serve a long prison term. Zadie Smith’s novel encompasses the Tichborne case but its scope is far wider. She would manage home, read Ainsworth’s yet to be published books, guide his illiterate newlywed young wife, Sarah, while painfully remembering the first Mrs Ainsworth, Frances, whom she loved. Harrison Ainsworth is firmly based on a historical character but Eliza Touchet, in many ways the person who holds the narrative together, is largely Zadie Smith’s creation.