I requested this book because I have always been fascinated by history and also historic cases of mistaken identity or questions of identity. I had never heard of the story of Roger Tichborne before at all and I found "The Claimant" to be a wonderful introduction to this mysterious case.
At first glance, the story seems simple. A butcher from Wagga Wagga in Australia makes the stunning declaration that he is actually none other than Roger Tichborne, the missing (and presumed dead) Baronet of Tichborne Park. His biggest supporter is Roger Tichborne's mother who is certain that he is her missing son though there are others who back his claim. There are also quite a few others who are just as certain that he is an imposter. Eventually this question of identity is brought to trial to be put to rest once and for all.
The author must have done a great amount of research and really has a gift for sharing the detailed information without making it a dry read.

The Claimant by Paul Terry Published by Echo Publishing
If a mark of good writing is to engage the reader in the story and in the life of the characters then the writer succeeded. I did not like the main character from the beginning. I got an attitude about him, whoever he was. Was he Tom Castro, Arthur Orton or Roger Tichborne, the baronet?
To give the answer at the beginning of a review would spoil the fun of reading the book but that is the question the author explores. I just know I had an attitude. Tom Castro was not a nice guy and I thought he was trying to get something that did not belong to him. (The title of the first chapter is A very unattractive man) However there is more to this story than trying to find out if Tom Castro, the butcher of Wagga Wagga was the lost heir as he claimed.
This is also a story about loss. What did happen to Sir Roger Tichburn? Did he have an accident and lose his accent and his manners to turn into a butcher? As improbable as that may seem I read a story recently of a Nigerian boy living in Georgia who woke up from a coma speaking fluent Spanish. Maybe his case is enough to make us withhold judgment on the improbability of an educated man losing his accent and his manners but I think the profound loss of a mother is a better explanation why Tom Castro could be accepted as a long lost son.
This is also a story about opportunity. It was an opportunity for a poor man to live and die rich. It was an opportunity for a couple detectives to make a name for themselves. One, by finding a lost son and another by showing that the claimant was an imposter.
Finally this is a story about class. By class I mean the division of society into privileged and unprivileged, into rich and poor, into gentry and not. I can see why this was such a big story. A man with a title became a butcher and had to fight his way back up. For many it wasn’t just a story about a lost son it was a story about the poor winning vicariously.
This is not the first book about the Claimant and it may not be the last but this one is well researched and well written.
I received a copy of this book from netgalley.com with the sole understanding that I would write a review.