"One may as well begin withÂÂ" is how this booker short listed novel starts but in a modern take on E.M Forsters classic "HowardÂs End" its Emails and not letters we begin with. ItÂs an interesting take on novels about academia like Amis and families at strife like Forster. Even more interesting is the transatlantic racial angle that Zadie Smith introduces with the main characters being either Black British or Mixed race American, both with very different backgrounds but all involved in University life or its periphery. Zadie Smith could have set this in the UK especially in London as her previous works have been but she takes on the challenge of setting it mainly in the USA in one of the second league of US Universities rather than the more obvious Harvard etc. Set in Boston she is able to explore the infighting, disloyalty, sex and power politics that inhabit any large institution.

Two families feature, the Belseys and the Kipps and the story spreads from North London to Boston, all the time exploring the themes of marriage and adultery, race and beliefs. She challenges the idea especially in the US part of the universal Black person, with right and left wing politics as well as poor Haitian immigrants and Black vested interest. But its far more complex than just race, itÂs about attitudes beneath the skin, about aspirations and failed dreams. There is a streak of humour as well as a smattering of graphic sex  so it has all then!! It is a long novel and the narrative does take a long time to really get going with many twists and turns. It is hard sometimes to see just where it is all going especially with some of the minor characters coming and going plus the ending does seem a little rushed if not a little contrived in the way it tries to tie up the loose ends. That said it is immensely readable and quite engaging in places even if it is a little hard to visualise some of the characters as Smith tend to concentrate more on one family (the Belseys) rather then the other (the Kipps) so one of the main characters  Monty Kipps is never really shown to us so we never get into that characters mind set. So all in all a good read but not really special like White Teeth  it could have been but for the endless and ultimately pointless subplots that drew away from the main characters. Worth a look IÂd say, but possibly wait till paperback editions  itÂs a massive hardback to carry round!.