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On Beauty

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On Beauty

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Peter Francis James
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2015

SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

From the acclaimed author of Swing Time, White Teeth and Grand Union, discover a brilliantly funny and deeply mving story about love and family

Why do we fall in love with the people we do? Why do we visit our mistakes on our children? What makes life truly beautiful?

Set between New England and London, On Beauty concerns a pair of feuding families - the Belseys and the Kipps - and a clutch of doomed affairs. It puts low morals among high ideals and asks some searching questions about what life does to love. For the Belseys and the Kipps, the confusions - both personal and political - of our uncertain age are about to be brought close to home: right to the heart of family.

'I didn't want to finish, I was enjoying it so much' Evening Standard

'Thrums with intellectual sass and know-how' Literary Review

'Filled with humour, generosity and contemporary sparkle' Daily Telegraph

'Satirical, wise and sexy' Washington Post

© Zadie Smith 2005 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

 Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Funny
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Critic reviews

The tale of a mixed-race British American family in conflict with another family of opposing sensibilities. As with all Smith's work, it's smart, funny and a masterclass in the complexities of identity (Luan Goldie)
All stars
Most relevant
Zadie Smith is just astounding.

But unfortunately this recording is like how tapes used to go when you unwound them; at points it’s fine, but then it jumps around and sounds weird.

Great book but the recording is broken

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I really enjoyed this story. The descriptions of all characters was superb, Howard I wanted to slap though by the end. I liked the interesting take on discretionarys at university, the different cultures explored and the relevant between the two women. Loved it hopping between London and America too.

Enthralling

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The narrator was good and did all the different voices very well.
I did find the book quite long, and the subject matter did not appeal a huge amount.
The atmosphere in the university was well depicted, and the characters well drawn and interesting.
The dramatic moments were well concocted, and the different strands of the plot were well brought together at the end.
There was a definite climax at the end. The reader is left hanging and wondering what happens, which I quite like.

mixed thoughts

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Overall good performance but right to the end I was expecting a plot to develop or even something to happen. For me it was an overly long listen with not much beauty.

Enjoyed the performance

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A wonderful epic tale by Zadie Smith. The American parts of the performance are excellent but the British accents were terrible and really detracted from the experience. Would have been better to have another actor. Shame.

Fabulous story marred by terrible British accent

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