“The wicked lie, that the past is always tense”: The Genius of Zadie Smith

By Kelsey A. Liebenson-Morse
...the wicked lie, that the past is always tense and the future, perfect. - Zadie Smith, White Teeth
Zadie Smith's grand and sweeping novel White Teeth (2000) spans years, locations (Kingston, Jamaica to Trafalgar Square), and generations of three overlapping families (Jones, Iqbal, Chalfen), touching on themes of identity, love, loss, culture, betrayal, immigration, horticulture, omelets, suicide, the apocalypse, eastern vs. western ideals, morality, marriage, religion, infidelity, racism and cloning -- to mention a few.

At the center of the novel are two men...

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