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

Zadie Smith's astonishingly accomplished first novel, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time.

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 *
An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious ... I was delighted -- Salman Rushdie
She is . . . a George Eliot of multi-culturalism * Daily Telegraph *
[Zadie Smith] is one of the prominent voices of her generation * Sunday Times *
Britain's finest young author * The List *
[Zadie Smith] packs more intelligence, humour and sheer energy into any given scene than anyone else of her generation * Sunday Telegraph *
[White Teeth] established a model for how to make sense-and art-out of the complexity, diversity and pluck that have defined the beginning of this century * Time *
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 *
An astonishingly assured debut, funny and serious ... I was delighted -- Salman Rushdie
Relentlessly funny ... idiosyncratic, and deeply felt * Guardian *



Book Information
ISBN 9780241981399
Author Zadie Smith
Format Paperback
Page Count 560
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 302g
Dimensions(mm) 181mm * 111mm * 33mm