Thanks for posting. Zadie Smith writes to the audience so well in her magazine pieces, it is a delight to read. I'm reading for the style as well as the content with articles like this, very educational.

For those unfamiliar with The New Yorker magazine, the subtitle and author may be more informative than the title:

> I did everything I could to avoid writing my historical novel. When I finally started “The Fraud,” one principle was clear: no Dickens.

> By Zadie Smith

That (2023) historical novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fraud

(Edit: The article's title is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony )

Our modern Western culture was made by the Victorians. They invented everything middle class. Charles Dickens literally made the Christmas we know today.