In a post-Brexit Britain, we need to bring to life Zadie Smith’s uncanny characters and blunt understanding of a divided Britain. Smith is nothing less than the crown-princess of Multicultural Britain. In her novels, the state of a mixed society is sharply observed from the things that neighbours whisper when you’re not looking to the type of sauce you eat with your chips — and how it speaks to everything about you. Now, more than ever, we need Zadie Smith. So it’s lucky that this year — after a four year hiatus — she has a new novel coming out, and a new adaptation of NW — the novel set in the North West London borough she grew up in and the lives she came across.
Nikki Amuka-Bird (“Luther”) and Phoebe Fox (“Hollow Crown”) star in this adaptation. Shadow and Act writes “‘NW’ tells the story of Natalie and Leah, friends who grew up together in North West London, whose lives have taken them in different directions. Natalie’s wealth and ambition have set her apart from the friends and family she grew up with – and she finds herself asking not only who she really is, but where she belongs. In an area where wealth and poverty are only streets apart, life is fragile – as Natalie and Leah are about to find out.”
90 minutes is hardly enough to set the world right, but it’s enough to reflect back to us the ways in which these divisions continue to fester.
