White Teeth: Zadie Smith (Penguin Essentials, 69

An unforgettable portrait of London and one of the most talked about debuts of all time!’The almost preposterous talent was clear from the first pages’ GuardianOn New Years Day 1975, the day of his almost-suicide, life said yes to Archie Jones. Not OK or ‘You-might-as-well-carry-on-since-you’ve-started’. A resounding affirmative.Promptly seizing his second life by the horns, Archie meets and marries Clara Bowden, a Caribbean girl twenty-eight years his junior.Thus begins a tale of friendship, of love and war, of three culture and three families over three generations . . .*****’Street-smart and learned, sassy and philosophical all at the same time’ New York Times’Outstanding’ Sunday Telegraph’An astonishingly assured début, funny and serious . . . I was delighted’ Salman Rushdie