NW

I have been patiently waiting for Zadie Smith, one of my favorite authors, to publish her new novel NW for some time (It’s been seven years since her last novel.) I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy this summer (just one of the perks of being a bookseller) and dropped all of my other reading for Ms. Smith. The novel is set in the northwest corner of London, not exactly the desirable part of town, more like the kind of neighborhood where poverty reigns and does not invite many opportunities for upward social mobility. Centered around four characters from Caldwell, an enclave of northwest London,  NW follows Leah, Natalie, Felix and Nathan as they navigate their adult lives outside of Caldwell.

Like Ms. Smith’s other novels, White Teeth, The Autograph Man and On Beauty, her beautiful prose and keen observation of daily human interaction surface in NW; however, I am experiencing mixed feelings about the novel as a whole, as are some other reviewers.

NPR’s book critic Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on Ms. Smith’s new novel:

This fall book season is bristling with lots of new novels that share the distinction of being long-awaited. Prominent authors like Martin Amis, Tom Wolfe, Michael Chabon and Zadie Smith have kept readers waiting for a while, which means, of course, that our expectations are as high as an elephant’s eye. Trim them down a bit. That’s my advice, at least in the case of Zadie Smith’s just-published novel “NW.”

For more of Ms. Corrigan’s review, read here.

Ron Charles of The Washington Post suggests that:

[Y]ou either submit to Smith’s eclectic style or you set this book aside in frustration. At times, reading “NW” is like running past a fence, catching only strips of light from the scene on the other side. Smith makes no accommodation for the distracted reader — or even the reader who demands a clear itinerary. But if you’re willing to let it work on you, to hear all these voices and allow the details to come into focus when Smith wants them to, you’ll be privy to an extraordinary vision of our age.

For the rest of Mr. Charles’s review, read here.

While I agree with Mr. Charles, I do believe that new readers of Ms. Smith would be better off starting with White Teeth or On Beauty; long-time readers should stay the course and see what they they think of the new novel for themselves. Even if NW is not a run-away hit like some of her other novels, I caught glimpses of Ms. Smith’s ability to put into words feelings that you as a reader may not have even realized you have felt before. She deftly seeps into your psyche and she just gets it. Reading NW has not discouraged me from patiently awaiting Ms. Smith’s next novel. Believe me, I will be just as excited for the next one.

by Anna