On Beauty

Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction 2006 Light struck the double glass doors that led to the garden, filtering through the arch that split the kitchen. It rested softly upon the still life of Kiki at the breakfast table, motionless, reading. Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful? Set in New England mainly and London partly, On Beauty concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family. Zadie Smith's On Beauty is a funny, powerful and moving story about love and family and where we find beauty, in others and in ourselves. 'The novel I didn't want to finish, I was enjoying it so much' - John Sutherland, Evening Standard ‘Thrums with intellectual sass and know-how' - Literary Review 'Delightfully entertaining ...filled with humour, generosity and contemporary sparkle' - Alex Clark, Daily Telegraph 'My novel of the year ...Delicious' - Liz Jones, Evening Standard 'Satirical, wise and sexy' - Washington Post 'Heartstopping' - The Times Literary Supplement 'Ambitious, hugely impressive, beautifully observed' – The Guardian Bold, ambitious, challenging and quick-witted, Zadie Smith’s fiction has been a breath of fresh air since her astonishing debut White Teeth appeared in print in 2000. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors. Her other publications include The Autograph Man, NW, the essay collection Changing My Mind, The Embassy of Cambodia and Swing Time.