SWING TIME
by Zadie Smith
(Hamish Hamilton, £18.99)
Book of the month
Zadie Smith is on dazzling form in this book, as she tackles subjects as varied as dance, race, culture, class and relationships. The unnamed narrator, who as a ‘horse-faced seven-year-old’ fell in love with dance and into a love-loathing friendship with talented, danced-obsessed Tracey, is retracing the path of her life – from an aspiring performer to her role as assistant to the casually philanthropic singing star, Aimee. Along the way, she tells the story of her parents’ marriage, her own faltering romantic past, describes life in West Africa, where Aimee’s school for girls is set up, and analyses Fred Astaire films, all with a witty, effortless gracefulness that belies the core of seriousness at the heart of this quicksilver novel. EF