On Beauty

Zadie Smith, On Beauty (Penguin, 2005)

This is the first Zadie Smith novel that I’ve read, and I really enjoyed it.  It is mostly based at the fictional Wellington College near Boston and offers an insightful portrayal of academic life.  There are two main families in the book: the Belsey family and the Kipps family.  The Belsey family consists of Howard, a white English academic, his African American wife Kiki and three children, Jerome, Zora, and Levi.  The Belsey family is firmly ensconced in the life of the university and its liberal attitudes.  While the Kipps family – Monty, Carlene, Victoria, and Mickael – is also rooted in academia through Monty’s work as a professor, they are originally from the Caribbean and, at least on the surface, their values are conservative and Christian.  The two families become increasingly connected through the book, as Monty moves to Wellington College and seeks to impose a conservative agenda onto the liberal life of the university. 

On Beauty, apparently, was written as an homage to E.M. Forster’s Howards End.  Much of the book focuses on race in Anglo-American society, especially academia.  Although written fifteen years ago, it seems very contemporary in its discussions of ‘no platforming’, affirmative action, and power-abusive sexual relations (perhaps highlighting that relatively little progress has been made).  The slightly strange friendship that develops between Carlene Kipps and Kiki Belsey offers a glimpse of authenticity, as does the raw political rage of the Haitian group that Live Belsey gets involved with.  But the lack of authenticity demonstrated by many of the characters is often also quite believable.  I liked the character of Zora Belsey, for example, and could imagine the swimming and study routine she describes.  In contrast, Monty Kipps ends up being quite a shallow and stereotypical character, as does his daughter Victoria in a different way.  The association of Christianity with the hypocrisy of Monty Kipps, is an easy dig, but the faith of Jerome Belsey offers something a little more genuine, especially as the novel develops.  On Beauty is a compelling novel, which left me wanting to read more books written by Zadie Smith.