NW

Zadie Smith

Kilburn: a multi-cultural, working class neighbourhood of North West London, where the challenging lives of Felix, Nathan, Leah and Natasha are simultaneously played out. At times shocking, this microscopic focus on the Capital presents a candid account of modern urban living, which cleverly entices you into its dark depths.

Extract

The window logs Kilburn's skyline. Ungentrified, ungentrifiable. Boom and bust never come here. Here bust is permanent. Empty State Empire, empty Odeon, graffiti-streaked sidings rising and falling like a rickety roller coaster. Higgledy-piggledy rooftops and chimneys, some high, some low, packed tightly, shaken fags in a box.

Parallels