A review by serendipitysbooks
NW by Zadie Smith

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 Zadie Smith is an author I’ve struggled with in the past. I don’t dislike her books but I have found them hard going. Finding that to be the case again with NW I resorted to my reliable strategy of listening to the audio and reading a print copy simultaneously. It definitely helped although I still struggled at times. Partly that’s because of the novel’s modernist, slightly experimental, sometimes stream of consciousness style. The book was composed of lots of fragments, vignettes as well as larger sections. They all worked well individually but I sometimes struggled putting them together as a cohesive whole.

I really enjoyed Smith’s writing style. It stood out from the norm and grabbed my attention with its energy and vitality. I think she created some really rich, nuanced character studies especially of friends Leah and Natalie/Keisha, but also of Nathan and to a lesser extent Felix. Willesden and Kilburn were so well depicted. As I read they sprang to life before my eyes, vibrant and full of life - both the good and the bad. The place was very much a character in its own right. I also appreciated the smart and perceptive things this book had to say about race, class and gender, about addiction, gentrification, social mobility, identity, globalisation and multiculturalism, friendship, and about women’s complicated relationship with motherhood among other things. I won’t pretend I gleaned all this novel had to offer. I may still struggle with Smith but I’ll continue to persevere since I’m convinced she’s worth the effort. 
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