The patriarchal power structure was apparent throughout the novel and manifested itself explicitly through both the male characters and the academic institution itself. One of the most fascinating aspects of the story was the examination of performativity (shoutout to Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino that also perfectly deconstructed this) and the appearance of knowledge as a mask for patriarchy and racism. The way Zadie was able to seamlessly weave the disenfranchisement and privilege of each of the overtly-flawed characters was extraordinary and the ending that tied all of the character’s crossroads together was the literary embodiment of a chef’s kiss. The fact that my classmates and I, along with thousands of students across the entire country, are denied stories like this in school that would offer so much internal reflection is devastating. Zadie Smith was a ginormous breath of fresh air because, in four hundred and forty-three pages, she forced me to analyze the intersecting identities and privileges of race, gender, class, academia, physical beauty, and religion. Books that we were meant to analyze in multiple fifty-minute class periods filled to the brim with kids who hated to fucking read because we were assigned these asinine books that were so singularly focused on white, male issues of centuries past and nothing more. I think back to when I was in high school and I was assigned to read Great Expectations, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and The Catcher in the Rye. I do not want to give more of the plot as I feel I would litter you with spoilers and I want you to uncover the delusional behavior on your own, because I want everyone to read this book. The oldest Besley son, Jerome, takes an internship under the ultra-conservative and faith-focused Monty, thus snowballing the intertwinement between the two families and the chaos that follows when the Kipps eventually move to Wellington. Spanning years, Howard has a nemesis across the globe by the name of Monty Kipps, who is also a professor and a Trinidadian living in Britain with his sickly wife Carlene, and their children Victoria and MIchael. The Besleys are a mixed-race family-Howard, a white Englishman and atheist university professor Kiki, the gorgeous and shapely African-American wife and their children, Jerome, Zora, and Levi. The story takes place in the fictional university town of Wellington, just outside of Boston. One hundred pages in, I was irrevocably invested in the lives of the Besley and Kipps families. There is a time jump that left me virtually shrugging my shoulders in confusion for dozens of pages. I knew basically nothing going into the book and completely ignored the synopsis, which I believe led to the first 100 pages being a little brutal for me.
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