Zadie Smith & the Orange Prize

Its third time lucky for Zadie Smith winning the Orange Prize for her novel "On Beauty". She had previously been shortlisted for her novels "the Autograph man" in 2003 and "White Teeth" in 2000. White Teeth was made into a TV mini series in 2002. The prize is for female writers and is accompanied by £30, 000. Our own Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was on the Shortlist in 2004 and missed out to the excellent book Small Island by Andrea Levy, one of my most recent favourites. I wish Chimamanda all the best with her next novel "Half of a Yellow Sun" which I have already pre ordered on Amazon - its out on September 12.

On Beauty is a very well written story of two academics who are bitter rivals, one the white, English and liberal Howard Belsey, the other Trinidadian right wing academic Monty Kipps. The book is about family relationships, dealing with spousal infidelity, an exploration of affirmative action and academia. Its not as funny as White Teeth but I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for an exploration of the issues of class, race and relationships.