Swing Time cover art

Swing Time

LONGLISTED for the Man Booker Prize 2017

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Swing Time

By: Zadie Smith
Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
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About this listen

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2017

'Smith's finest. Extraordinary, truly marvellous' Observer

A dazzlingly exuberant novel moving from north west London to West Africa, from the critically acclaimed author of White Teeth, On Beauty and Grand Union

Two brown girls dream of being dancers - but only one, Tracey, has talent. The other has ideas: about rhythm and time, black bodies and black music, what it means to belong, what it means to be free. It's a close but complicated childhood friendship that ends abruptly in their early twenties, never to be revisited, but never quite forgotten either.

Bursting with energy, rhythm and movement, Swing Time is Zadie Smith's most ambitious novel yet. It is a story about music and identity, race and class, those who follow the dance and those who lead it . . .

'Superb' Financial Times 'Breathtaking' TLS 'Pitch-perfect' Daily Telegraph

'There is still no better chronicler of the modern British family than Zadie Smith' Telegraph

 Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Thought-Provoking Africa

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Critic reviews

Satisfying and thoughtful
All stars
Most relevant
Zadie Smith's novel absolutely brought alive by this superb reading of Swing Time. Each character distinct and memorable. Stellar work by Pippa Bennett-Warner. A terrific listening experience.

Superb performance

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Pippa Bennett-Warner reads Zadie Smith's words brilliantly. I loved every chapter and cried at the end . Thoroughly recommend!

Brilliant !

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The narrator is amazing. Great story. Zadie Smith excellent as always, creating a vivid depiction of London and all the wonderful multiplicities and complexities of human personality and behaviour. Would definitely recommend to all.

Excellently narrated.

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Amazing narration and the standard exceptionally skilled writing of Zadie Smith but not convinced by the story and found myself getting bored by the meandering plot half way through.

Excellent narration but not as wowed by plot.

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lovely to have a new book from zadie smith. always good to have such a clear insight into someone's world

really enjoyed it

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