SOURCE: O'Grady, Kathleen. “The Empire Strikes Back.” Women's Review of Books 18, no. 1 (October 2000): 19–20.

In the following review, O'Grady examines the multicultural themes, characters, and settings of White Teeth.

When the renowned Andrew Wylie literary agency secured a rumored ＄400,000 advance for a first-time author, based on only a plot synopsis and two completed chapters, the British literary world took a serious look at the young woman who could command such numbers for the mere idea of a novel. The media tagged along, too, having already fueled the sudden rise of J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. As it turned out, 24-year-old Zadie Smith did not disappoint. White Teeth has summoned (accurate) comparisons to Salman Rushdie and David Foster Wallace, and has stolen a bit of the limelight from the infamous British “lad lit” of Martin Amis, Irvine Welsh, Will Self, Nick Hornby et al.

White...