Read about another debut on the list.White Teeth, by Zadie Smith.
Intertwining two generations, three families, and a mass of cultural and historical influences, Smith’s book was begun when she was an undergrad, and released when she was just 24. It focuses primarily on Irie, the awkward offspring of a May-December marriage between a once-suicidal World War II vet and a young Jamaican woman. It’s funny, rangy, and crowded with characters, all of them with assured, distinctly rendered voices.
White Teeth is on Nigel Williams's list of ten of the best books about suburbia and John Mullan's list of ten of the most notable New Years in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue
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