The debut novel from British literary sensation Smith is an expansive work that teems with characters and voices as diverse as the city in which it is set: London. Spanning 25 years, the narrative focuses on Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, two World War II veterans who are now married. Smith’s hilarious epic tells the story of their two multicultural families while touring modern London, touching down in a Jamaican hair salon, an Irish poolroom-cum-immigrant cafe and an Indian restaurant in Leicester Square. Smith, brilliantly satirical, takes race, politics and history into account in a novel that has earned her comparisons to everyone from Charles Dickens to Salman Rushdie.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
