Faking

Hugh Oliver is the former editor-in-chief of the OISE (Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education) Press. He is the author of Hoblyn: A Novel in
Three Parts and Voices from the Cradle, Echoes from the Grave: A Volume
of Verse.

Thomas Wainewright (1794–1847), the protagonist of this novel, was a
flesh-and-blood historical figure—Regency fop, painter (distinguished
for his forgeries), and alleged serial poisoner who ended his days as a
convict in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). His exotic yet poorly
documented life history has sparked the imaginations of several authors,
including Charles Dickens, Bulwer-Lytton, Oscar Wilde, and now James
King, who has woven his own fantasy (forgery) from the known facts.

The fictional source of King’s fantasy is a woman of the present day
who hears not only the voice of Wainewright offering his side of the
story but also the voices of several of those who conspired either with
or against him. The result is a sort of protean jigsaw puzzle, in which
the picture is continually changing shape depending on whose voice is
being heard. A “Snakes and Ladders approach to autobiography” (and,
incidentally, a critique of historical truth), this novel is cleverly
constructed, teasing, and admirably written.