An unforgettable portrait of London and one of the most talked about debuts of all time!

'The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages' Guardian

On New Years Day 1975, the day of his almost-suicide, life said yes to Archie Jones. Not OK or 'You-might-as-well-carry-on-since-you've-started'. A resounding affirmative.

Promptly seizing his second life by the horns, Archie meets and marries Clara Bowden, a Caribbean girl twenty-eight years his junior.

Thus begins a tale of friendship, of love and war, of three culture and three families over three generations . . .

*****

'Street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time' New York Times

'Outstanding' Sunday Telegraph

'An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious . . . I was delighted' Salman Rushdie

S 2001 Mail on Sunday / John Llewellyn Rhys Prize

About the Author
Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW and Swing Time; as well as a novella, The Embassy of Cambodia; three collections of essays, Changing My Mind, Feel Free and Intimations; a collection of short stories, Grand Union; and the play, The Wife of Willesden, adapted from Chaucer. She is also the editor of The Book of Other People. Zadie Smith was born in north-west London, where she still lives. The Fraud is her first historical novel.

Reviews
Funny, clever ... and a rollicking good read * Independent *
Do believe the hype, buy into it, curl up with it, savour every sentence, then turn around and re-read * The Times *
An impressive debut, not only for its vitality and verve, but mainly for the sheer audacity of its scope and vision ... an epic tale ... swooping, funny ... it has ambition, wit and is unafraid -- Meera Syal * Express *
Announces the debut of a preternaturally gifted new writer ... street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time * The New York Times *
Relentlessly funny ... idiosyncratic, and deeply felt * Guardian *


Awards
Winner of Betty Trask Award 2001 and WH Smith Book Awards: New Talent 2001 and Whitbread Book Awards: First Novel Category 2000 and Guardian First Book Award 2000 and Whitbread Prize (First Novel) 2000. Short-listed for Whitbread Book Awards: Book of the Year 2000 and Orange Prize for Fiction 2000.



Book Information
ISBN 9780140276336
Author Zadie Smith
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 383g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 33mm