Shelfology Book Pairing

by Zadie Smith

Twenty-first century London: rich and poor, black and white, joyful and melancholy, boring and deviant—occasionally lethal.Somewhere in the northwest of the city stands the Caldwell housing estate, a relic of ’70s urban planning. Leah, an administrator for the lottery, grew up there. So did her best friend, Natalie, now a barrister, and Felix, an MG car mechanic.Thirty years later these Caldwell kids and their partners live only a few streets apart, yet inhabit separate worlds. Until the day a desperate local woman comes to Leah’s door seeking help—and forces Leah out of her isolation. But is Shar a stranger or a friend? Sincere or a fraud? A connection to the past or a threat to the future?From private dinner tables to public parks, at work and at play, in this delicate but devastating novel of encounters Zadie Smith’s Londoners find themselves navigating an increasingly atomized society. For some the city remains a place of happy accidents and chance good fortune, while for others it is darker terrain in which the main streets hide the back alleys, and taking the high road can sometimes lead to a dead end. NW brilliantly depicts this modern urban zone—familiar to city dwellers everywhere—in a tragicomic novel as mercurial as the city itself.

25th Anniversary Edition

by Zadie Smith

A stunning new edition of one of the most iconic fictional debuts of all time, to mark the 25th anniversary of this modern classic - perfect for any Zadie Smith fan! 'What's past is prologue...' First published in the year 2000, Zadie Smith's White Teeth was one of the most celebrated novels of the new millennium. Adored by critics and readers alike, it remains a perennial bestseller, which still delights with the audacity of its scope and vision, its fresh-minted style, and the wit and warmth of its voice. Funny, generous and big-hearted, it deals - among many other things - with friendship, love, war, three cultures and three families over three generations, one brown mouse, and the tricky way the past has of coming back and biting you on the ankle. A life affirming, riotous must-read of a book, it won the Guardian First Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread First Novel Award. 'Curl up with it, savour every sentence, then turn around and reread' The Times 'The outstanding debut of the new millennium' Observer