The Fraud by Zadie Smith

 

Before starting to read this book, I considered doing some research on William Ainsworth. All in all, Ainsworth was a contemporary writer. He was a clean stylist and published 41 novels. His first success as a writer came with Rookwood in 1834 and Jack Sheppard, which did outsell the Oliver Twist. 

This novel is based on the life of William (1805-82) from the point of view of his cousin by marriage, Eliza Touchet. Her husband left her in poverty with William's household. It is written through time and anecdotes that struck her as significant moments and some meaningless from the outside literary world.

Eliza is incredibly brave, brilliant, loving, and kind. She gives a very fair and balanced view of the scandal that titillated Victorian England, The Tichborne Claimant cases. In 1852, Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to the Tichborne title, disappeared at sea. Twelve years later, Tom Castro, a large Cockney butcher from Wagga Wagga in outback Australia claimed to be him. But she was more obsessed with a formerly enslaved Jamaican man named Andrew Bogle, a key witness in the trial of the Tichborne Claimant. Zadie does very good work with the story of sympathetic characters, race, class and colonisation complexities.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheFraud by #ZadieSmith #igreads #igbooks #bookstagram #goodreads #bookrecommendations #bookreview #emabaca #malaysiamembaca

The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin

 

In 1939, Ken Kourian went to a party at the house of Oliver Tooke, a wealthy young man who wanted to pursue life as a writer. They were immediately acquainted.

Oliver's life is not a bed of roses apparently. He died by suicide. Ken tried to think of a reason why Oliver might have done it. 

He had been thinking a lot about Oliver's new book, The Turnglass. He thinks Oliver left it as a sign in case something happened to him. He wanted Ken to let people know the truth if he couldn't himself. There are a lot of subtle messages in his book. 

The events in the book were based on what had happened to Oliver's grandfather almost sixty years earlier. He thinks those events were connected to what had happened to the family. His book took some unravelling about Turglass House which always had something corrupt and malign. 

His death was most likely linked to his mother's being in an asylum and his brother being abducted when they were small. It was why Oliver had spoken of the guilt a lot before he died. 

Oh my. The most underrated book I've read this year. This book is unique not only because of tete-beche. The plot and the author's writing are amazing. A story within a story is a captivating tale filled with mystery and mind-blowing endings. 5 ⭐️ !!

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheTurnglass by #GarethRubin #igreads

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Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer

 

Superintendent William Warwick is a part of the Crown Jewel's escort. Sword of State and Imperial State Crown would once again be worn by Her Majesty at the House of Lords on Queen's Speech for the State Opening of Parliament. 

There was an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels in 1671 but unfortunately, it didn't succeed. Miles Faulkner who has 4 years of fraud and returns to his shady business trying to seek revenge implies that Warwick is the next target.

Jeffrey Archer's writing of a British police procedural crime thriller is straightforward. The plot is linear and clear. My first impression of Warwick is that he is too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws. It is very easy to become invested in the story from the first chapter of this latest William Warwick series.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores 

📚

#donereading #TraitorsGate by #JeffreyArcher #igbooks #igreads #emabaca #bookstagram #goodreads #letsgetreading #bookreview #malaysiamembaca