Zadie Smith Talks ‘The Fraud’ and Abolitionism at Coolidge Corner Theatre

On Sept. 17, the Brookline Booksmith hosted a book talk with award-winning novelist and short-story writer Zadie Smith in the historic Coolidge Corner Theatre. This event marked Smith’s third book talk with the Booksmith, providing a chance for employees to reflect on the growth and recognition of the author.

“We had her right at the beginning [of her career] in the early 2000s, we had her when we still held events downstairs, and like 30 people showed up for Zadie Smith,” said Silas Weiner, a Brookline Booksmith employee. “That’s what's great about having been here for so long — we welcome authors back, they feel at home here.”

Brookline Booksmith hosts several hundred book events per year, including a general events series, a transnational literature series, and a poetry series. These events provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meet their favorite authors not only to the community, but to workers at the bookstore as well.

“We are deeply committed to literature, and to writers, and to thinkers in our wider community and so we love to be able to launch their work, promote their work, celebrate their work, amplify their voices — all things that we can do through in these series,” said Lisa Gozashti, the co-owner and manager of the Booksmith. “It’s a really important joy and service to offer our community, too. One of the thrills of being a reader is getting to meet one of your favorite authors in person.”

At the event, Smith discussed her first historical novel, “The Fraud.” Published in September of 2023, “The Fraud” takes place in North London during the Tichborne trial.

“I live in the middle of this book,” Smith said when describing her relationship to the setting of the novel.

“This whole part of North London is my home,” Smith said.

A famous case of the Victorian era, the Tichborne case concerned the missing heir of the Tichborne baronetcy, Robert Tichborne. When an Australian butcher, Thomas Castro, presented himself as Robert Tichborne, a highly publicized trial ensued. A freed Jamaican slave, Andrew Bogle, played a key role in providing testimony for the trial, something which greatly interested Smith as a writer with Jamaican heritage.

By incorporating Bogle as a main character, Smith placed the transatlantic slave trade and subsequent themes of resistance, solidarity, and liberation at the forefront of her novel.

“When you’re thinking about an enormous action like ending slavery, you have, to me, to think of a kaleidoscope of different actions,” said Smith. “There are radical actions, like the slaves themselves revolting year after year.”

Smith went on to describe the many facets of abolitionism and her desire to write a book “which acknowledged all of those things.”

Freedom, Smith emphasized, remains a central desire for many characters in “The Fraud,” regardless of their differing roles in the British empire.

“The book became about that dynamic, about the existential truth, which is freedom now, and the historical truth, which is that these things take time, and that they will happen in a certain order,” Smith said.

After the book talk, Smith held a book signing across the street from the Coolidge Corner Theater at the Booksmith.

One event attendee, Laura Nooney, mentioned her longtime following of Smith’s work.

“I read ‘White Teeth’ way back and I think [Smith] has an incredible way of describing human interactions,” Nooney said. “The thing that she said at the end about capturing those moments between individual people — that’s always what draws me to good writing — and I really appreciate that about her.”

Gozashti similarly spoke to Smith’s abilities as a powerful writer and speaker.

“Zadie is just absolutely brilliant, so she always lends a unique take to contemporary events and themes,” Gozashti said. “It’s a real, rare privilege to hear an author in conversation, because oftentimes they’re talking extemporaneously.”

To Gozashti, these talks reflect a new way for readers to connect to the authors they love.

“They say things that I will remember forever and that are not scripted and completely unique to that moment, so that’s a whole other way to enter into a writer's thinking,” Gozashti said.