I broke my own rule regarding an author’s chronology by reading NW by Zadie Smith immediately upon its release, instead of backtracking to White Teeth and On Beauty. Afterward, many Zadie Smith fans told me I had made a mistake, and shouldn’t let NW dictate my impressions of her. Although it received very mixed reviews, I enjoyed NW; it didn’t make an enormous impression on me, but there were certain elements of it that I absolutely loved, and most importantly, and whetted my appetite for more Zadie Smith fiction. And as a New Yorker devotee, I have always loved her essays, and am looking forward to finally reading some of her published essay collections in the coming months.

Much like NW, White Teeth explores the intertwining lives of Londoners, particularly in regard to their immigrant experiences. I found that the chapters devoted to Irie, the daughter of a British father and Jamaican mother, really came alive most for me, and I wonder if this has anything to do with the obvious similarities between Irie and Zadie Smith herself. Even so, I’m still finding myself in this weird Zadie Smith limbo; I like her writing, but I’m not losing my mind over her, which seems to be the most popular reaction among women my age. She certainly has incredible style and charisma, and she’s one of those enviable young female writers who is heaped with praise at a very young age (see also: Tea Obrecht, Karen Russell, Chimamanda Ngzogi Adichie and a few dozen more; come to think of it, this might warrant its own post). Objectively, I can tell it’s good writing, and I certainly want to keep reading more of her work, but I’m just not as overwhelmed by her as so many others seem to be. Am I missing something, or are there others out there?