Womens Prize For Fiction Winner

On Beauty

by Zadie Smith

Summary

Two feuding academic families, one liberal and one conservative, tangle across race, class and art in a New England university town. Smith reworks the structure of an E. M. Forster novel into a sharp, funny portrait of marriage, ageing and culture wars. Her ear for how people actually argue and love gives the comedy its warmth and its bite.

Historical Context & Significance

Zadie Smith openly modelled the novel on Howards End, paying homage to the English tradition she was expanding.