Zadie Smith - NW

It's seven years since Zadie Smith's last novel, the Orange Prize winning On Beauty, during which time the literary world's fascination with her has remained undimmed. Her new one tells the interwtined stories of a group of Londoners, linked by the council estate they grew up on, each trying to negotiate adult life in an era of arrested development. Driven Natalie, who reinvented herself as the world's idea of success, is coming off the rails; uncertain Leah is balking at the prospect of motherhood; for Nathan, it's been downhill since primary school. The complex topography of modern London is explored in a dazzling portrait of aspiration and apathy, change and continuity, the social and personal barriers between people and how they can be breached. As Smith threads together her character's inner and outer worlds, every sentence sings.