Zadie Smith’s new novel, NW, surprised me. I was expecting something like White Teeth or On Beauty, but the complexity and intense poetry of this created something strong and unexpected. It primarily charts the lives of best friends Leah and Keisha who grow up together on the same estate. Though it initially focuses on Leah, I preferred the later section, ‘Host’, that adopts Keisha’s perspective in brief scenes, told with the senses of memory, that bring them from childhood to adulthood. It explores whether Keisha can successfully negotiate a class transition. She chooses a new name, Natalie, for her new life as she succeeds professionally and marries wealthy Frank, who looks like ‘he was born on a yacht somewhere in the Caribbean and raised by Ralph Lauren’. Zadie Smith’s characters are, as always, multifaceted and very authentic. I loved her description of Keisha’s teenage angst:
‘It did not strike Keisha Blake that such feelings of alienation are the banal fate of adolescents everywhere. She considered herself peculiarly afflicted, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she struggled to think of anyone besides perhaps James Baldwin and Jesus who had experienced the profound isolation and loneliness that she now knew to be the one and only true reality in this world.’
The lives of two men are also introduced in this anthropological consideration of an urban landscape. Felix and Nathan have both struggled to establish functional lives after their beginnings on the Caldwell estate. Poverty, failure and distress are never far from the lives of NW’s people; there seems to be a sort of inevitable tragedy about this novel. The moment that struck me the most was when Natalie and Nathan meet for the last time in the text. She tells him, ‘It’s weird to me that you can be so vital to another person and never know it. You were so…loved’. Yet that can do little for him.
There are moments that show Zadie Smith’s clever humour. Cultural references ground the chronology realistically, though some were rather lost on me. I struggled a little with some of the prose as semi-sentences often tailed off, as if I inherently knew what she was getting at. I’m afraid I didn’t. Unfortunately, my professional brain also initially interfered with my enjoyment; I kept thinking how difficult it would be to proofread! Once I got past my grammatical fixations, I found the creativity of form refreshing.
NW is just right in some ways. Reading it feels like a trip to London: a city sometimes dense, stressful and un-cohesive, but ultimately it provides a chance to see a cross-section of life in glimpses. It is sometimes beautiful or brutal, but it is always vital and feels essentially real and alive.
beautifully written review, thanks for sharing!
having just come back from London, I can’t wait to read this one!
❤
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Thank you, that’s really kind of you! I just had a look at your blog and I love your London photos! I hope you had a lovely time in the capital!
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I can’t wait to read the book! It totally seems to fit my reading “mood” as of late. Thank you!
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You’re very welcome! It’s definitely an end of summer sort of book- l’d be interested to know what you think of it once you’ve had a read!
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Sounds fabulous. I loved Zadie’s other books, this one sounds like a must read too.
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Absolutely, she’s excellent. Also, really nice to discover your blog and find a fellow gluten free eater!
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Can’t wait to read this one! You’ve done a great job of reviewing the novel here, without giving away too much. Thanks for the post. Looks like it will be a great season for literature, and boy to we need one after a summer of 50 Shades of Drek.
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What a lovely compliment, thank you! I completely agree that it’s about time the focus shifted away from that particular book and back on to some quality literature. Though I haven’t actually read it, I have enjoyed this amusing deconstruction of it by a brilliant book blogger: http://www.50ayear.com/2012/08/13/50-shades-of-grey-chapter-one/
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Thank you for sharing that — HILARIOUS!! Wish I had brought that to my book club’s discussion.
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Wonderful review. I enjoyed Zadie Smith’s book of essays ‘Changing My Mind’ and, thanks to your review, I will now explore some of her fiction. Have a beautiful day. Michele
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Thank you! I’m going to read ‘Changing My Mind’ next, I’m really looking forward to it!
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Brilliant, if you live nearby, I will lend you the book!
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That’s so generous of you, but I have a copy from the library. I’ll let you know what I think of it!
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Brilliant!
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Fantastic review!
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That means a great deal coming from a fellow writer- thank you!
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🙂
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An author who can tackle both fiction AND nonfiction — yes, please! I’m excited to check out this book as well as her book of essays, mentioned by Michele above. Thank you for the recommendation! 🙂
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Thank you for reading my review! Zadie Smith is incredibly multi-talented- definitely worth a read!
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I have yet to read any books by Zadie Smith, but I do have a copy of White Teeth in my ever-growing to-read pile. I’ll move that to the top and check out NW as well. Thanks for the review.
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Definitely go for White Teeth next, it’s a modern classic!
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Zadie is my all-time favorite — I’ve been looking forward to N.W. for a long time. I can’t wait to enjoy more of her quirky humour and her ridiculous ear for slang and dialogue.
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White Teeth is one of my favourite books. I read it first before living in London and then a second time recently so now I get the cultural references. I look forward to this book!
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I’m so excited. This comes in the mail any day now. Thanks for the write up.
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Thank you for reading my review!
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cool! sounds really interesting, had never heard of this author until now. thanks for sharing!
also, i love the cover! x
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Thank you for reading! I love the cover too- so striking!
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I live in an NW postcode, and this is actaully a pretty god read. Still prefer Marin Amis’ London Fields, but this is definitely ‘up there’… (somewhere!)
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Zadie Smith is one of our great writers–I’m looking forward to picking this book up and reading!
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Thrilled that Zadie Smith has a new book out, great review, I’ll have to pick it up ASAP!
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Thank you!
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iI can not wait to read the book:)
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