Book description
Thomas Wainewright - Regency fop, literary hanger-on, collector of
art and artifacts, forger and deported felon - is considered one of
the most notorious of English murderers. He is believed to have been
one of the first recorded serial killers.
James King takes on this spectral character in his first novel,
Faking, and examines a number of serious questions. Was Wainewright a
faker? It's historical "fact" that he forged sketches,
paintings, letters and banknotes - but, more importantly, did he fake
his life? In a complex tapestry of styles and voices, King plays with
the assumptions of originality and experience, of academic fashions
and biography.
Told through the voice of a Toronto housewife, Thomas Wainewright's
story is revealed through the voices of its main characters: the
overly sensitive Tom, who wishes to address the characterizations of
which he perceives himself to be victim (an essay by Wilde, a
character in Dickens, a novel by Bulwer-Lytton); Tom's cunning wife,
Eliza; his sister-in-law, Helen; and his son, Griffiths.
Wainewright asserts his innocence of the murders (of his uncle, his
mother-in-law, and his sister-in-law) but lays claim to the more
fashionable - if not prestigious - guilt of forging a number of
canvases, including the Gainsborough reproduced on the cover of the
Simon & Pierre edition of Faking.
With a deft hand, James King weaves together the language of the
Regency with the language of contemporary prose (while knocking the
academic conventions) to provide the reader with a novel that is sure
to entertain and, at its end, cause a moment of reflection on the
nature and importance of authenticity, of leading an authentic life.
The Dundurn Group is pleased to announce the release of James King's
first novel, Faking. This is the first of five literary books
to be published this season under the revived literary imprint, Simon
& Pierre.
"In his first novel, the critically acclaimed James King takes
on this spectral character and weaves together a haunting story that
examines the assumptions of authenticity and experience."
James King's most recent book is the bestselling biography of
Margaret Laurence. He has received numerous awards, including a
Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship and a Killam Research Fellowship. He is
the author of a biography of Herbert Read, The Last Modern: A Life
of Herbert Read (1991), which was nominated for the Governor
General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction; and the critically acclaimed
The Life of Margaret Laurence (1997).
