Few writers manage to capture the essence of a place as Zadie Smith does London. Ever since her debut novel White Teeth, set in Willesden in the north-west of the capital, catapulted her to literary stardom in 2000 at the age of 24, she has maintained a reputation as one of the city's finest storytellers.
Smith, who hails from north-west London herself and now divides her time between it and New York, has been described as the "voice of multicultural London", but it's the NW area in particular that seems to hold a special place in her heart. In her new novel, Swing Time, the two protagonists meet at a dance class held at a church in Kilburn. But it was Smith's previous novel, the critically acclaimed NW, released in 2012, that put her corner of the capital centre stage. The book, which has just been adapted into a 90-minute drama airing on BBC Two tonight, tells the story of Natalie and Leah, friends who grew up together in the area, whose lives have taken them in different directions.
It tackles race, class, identity, love, desire, sex, gender, fertility, hatred, violence, and of course, multicultural urban living. As in real life, in Smith's version of NW, wealth and poverty are only streets apart, life is fragile and secrets are dangerous.
But there is beauty and community to be found amid the gloom, as Smith writes in the book's first two lines: "The fat sun stalls by the phone masts. Anti-climb paint turns sulphurous on the school gates and lamp posts. In Willesden people go barefoot, the streets turn European, there is a mania for eating outside."
There's a lot to love about an area bursting with such character, vibrance and so many contradictions. Last week, Refinery29 went out to meet women in NW – which contains a diversity of districts, from Hampstead and Kentish Town to Willesden and Kilburn – to find out what it's like living and working in Zadie Smith's London.
Watch NW tonight at 9 pm on BBC Two.
Coral Jones, 24, is an assistant producer who lives in the Camden/Kentish Town area in a house with her mum.
"I've lived in NW London my whole life. There's a great variety in the area. There are always shops, restaurants and bars open and nice places to meet up with people. I like being in a place with a buzz and Camden definitely has that, but the parks are a nice escape if you want a bit of peace.
"I haven't read Zadie Smith's NW, but I've read White Teeth, which was very accurate in its portrayal of the mix of working and middle class people here. She even mentioned a notorious Kentish Town character, Mad Mary!"
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Sophie Sanders, 18, is a gap-year student who went to secondary school and sixth form in Camden. She lives with her parents and siblings.
"I spend all my time in north-west London. All my friends live in Camden or Hampstead and we usually chill around Hampstead Heath, Camden or Kentish Town. My favourite thing is the green space – I've probably spent half my school life on Hampstead Heath. It's a haven away from the city. Kenwood House and the Hampstead Pergola and Hill Gardens are beautiful. If you go in summer to watch the sunset it's amazing.
"I also love the British Library, the Wellcome Collection and Regent's Canal. The Blues Kitchen, Proud and The Jazz Café in Camden are great places to go out. Dirty Burger in Kentish Town do the best burgers ever!
"I read NW at school and really enjoyed it. Smith paints a more real and honest picture of urban lives than many books do. Class conflicts are generally swept under the rug but she addresses the issue in an optimistic and even slightly comical way."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Dawm Mattis, 45, is a registered nurse who has lived in Kensal Rise for 18 years.
"My area is quite neat and tidy and there are no problems. I really love it and the people on my street are so down to earth, they’re good. My next-door neighbour is a GP. There are a lot of professionals on our street.
"A lot has changed over the years. The streets, the road. There used to be lots of problems over on the other side. Crime. But I think it's all gone – the street, shops, the whole place has just changed.
"I go to Nando's a lot. I’m just coming from Nando's now. I like to go to the park and Queen’s Park is quite nice as well. I just love the area. I would never consider moving to a different part of London."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Esmée Jenkins, 53, is a gardener and garden designer who lives near Camden Town with her partner and two daughters.
"I moved to the area 14 years ago so my daughters could go to the local school. Our house is also the house I was born in – my mother owns it and my partner and I rent it from her. It was also the house my partner and I first lived in together in 1981. We moved out in 1984 and moved back here in 2002.
"My favourite thing is living close to Hampstead Heath, where I take my Irish terrier Maisie for a walk most days. Transport links in the area are also very good – either getting around London or getting a train to somewhere else in the country. But there is always a lot of building work going on."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Megan Davies, 18, is a sixth-form student at Camden School for Girls in NW5. She has lived in Camden Town with her family for six years.
"I love north-west London. I've grown up here, all my friends live here, it's where I learn and where I go out at night. My favourite thing is the open-minded, fun and creative people.
"I love Lemonia. it's a Greek restaurant in Primrose Hill with a great welcoming atmosphere. I've been going to Fierce Grace Yoga in Chalk Farm for a while now and I love it there, too. The new Camden Assembly venue near the Roundhouse has a great bar and there are really good gigs going on there.
"Once I finish school I want to spend some time in Berlin and then go up north to study. But after that I'd love to come back to London. If I moved back and could afford it, I'd want to try out east London. It's full of young people and NW is just too expensive! I've lived in NW my whole life. I need to get out for a bit."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Sara Marshall, 46, is an executive assistant who lives in Camden with her husband. She has lived in NW London for ten years.
"I moved to north-west London after a relationship breakdown. I was looking for urgent temporary accommodation close to the West End and as far from south London – and my ex – as possible. A mutual friend introduced me to a landlord who turned into a friend, then boyfriend and now husband! Our relationship turning points can be mapped across Hampstead Heath, the Camden canals, Primrose Hill and Regent's Park.
"London has gentrified over the years and while it's fuelled dinner party property boasting and means you're never far from a gluten free, organic spelt loaf or a soya mocha choco-latte, the human and cultural price has been high.
"We've lost the diversity of our city and its richness is disappearing, lost as housing prices force out normal people and only the wealthy remain. Every scrap of land is devoured for luxury apartments, with less than perfect promises on social housing and studio flats being sold for over half a million pounds. The creative edge of much of north-west London is being refurbished into oblivion, and we're losing music venues, independent pubs, cafés and bookshops to the big chains."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Emiola Johnson, 18, is a sixth-form student at The Grey Coat Hospital school. She has lived in Willesden with her mum, brother and sister for 12 years, before which they lived in Kilburn.
"As much as I love the area, I'd rather not live here. There’s a lot of litter and things aren't as modern as central London, but I've lived here for a long time and I do still like it.
"I like Roundwood Park, which is really close to my house and I've been going there a long time. I work in Kilburn Library, which is really nice as well.
"I know a lot of people here and it’s very multicultural, which is probably the best thing about it. There are so many different cultures and people understand each other better because everyone knows that everyone is different from them. There are more white people here now than there used to be. I don't know if gentrification is the right word."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Saraid Cameron, 25, is an actress currently working as a waitress in Kentish Town. She moved to London a few months ago from New Zealand to join the National Youth Theatre (NYT).
"I like NW because the people are diverse and all pretty friendly so far. What I like about London is that so few people are from here originally, which makes it so interesting.
"My experience of moving to London was a little upsetting. I was living in Hamburg for a bit beforehand, and when the NYT worked out I had to leave for the UK. When I got home my mum had two heart attacks – luckily she's fine now – and I sort of reunited with my boyfriend. So I moved to London really not wanting to leave my mum and boyfriend, and walking away from them at the airport felt wrong.
"My hopes for living in London are that I'll have new ideas or thoughts because of it, which will make my work better. And that I'll make something good with the actresses and writers I'm working with. At the end of it I hope I'll feel a bit more settled because of all the un-settling I've done."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Natalie Kelsey, 22, a postgraduate student who has lived in Kentish Town for two years.
"I moved to the area because there's a lot going on in areas like Camden that interest me and the Northern Line is good for transport.
"A lot of the popular areas have managed to maintain a level of authenticity despite an influx of tourists. I like that there's a huge variety of people from different cultures. House prices are the biggest downside, though."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Tele-Ayo Alabi, 18, is a student studying economics at City University, London. She is originally from Hertfordshire and currently lives in student accommodation in Kentish Town.
"I moved to this area because I just love the buzz of the place. It's really close to my university and the high street is amazing. It’s so long and there’s everything you could want. There’s a really cool stationery place I just discovered and I was in there for about 10 minutes just staring at everything. Don’t you love stationery? Who doesn’t?
"It's been extremely easy to make friends in my student house – it's like a community. Less so in the university because everyone’s trying to get to their next lecture or tutorial. I'm looking forward to life away from home as a student. It’s exciting having adult responsibilities and stuff."
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Jessica de Lotz-Hewitt, 31, is a jewellery designer who sells her wares from her shop in Kentish Town. She has lived in a flat in Tufnell Park with her husband for seven years.
"I moved to the area because my family are based here. My cousin and I joke that we're the mafia of North London! I was brought up in Belsize Park, went to school in Camden and then moved down the road. I met my husband in the Lock Tavern in Chalk Farm, so we'd aways hang out in the area and most of our best friends live near us, too. I've never really moved away.
"Tufnell Park and Kentish Town have changed a lot in the last five years. I'm loving watching all the interesting small businesses spring up in the area and seeing people take the same risk I did when I opened my shop.
"I feel more part of the community having had a shop for seven months than I did after seven years of living here. There's a camaraderie among shop owners. Having a shop, I'm much more aware of the interesting characters in the area, which makes living and working here all the more colourful!"
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
Lucie Newbegin, 28, is a florist who works in flower shop Scarlet & Violet in Kensal Rise.
"I've lived in Hackney with my boyfriend for two years but work in Kensal Rise and I'm loving discovering the new area. I like change and finding new places to hang out and show friends. There are lots of nice shops and pubs. The Chamberlayne pub and Paradise by Way of Kensal Green bar are my favourites for after-work drinks.
"I like that it's totally different from east London. The people are different, not overly style conscious, and much more relaxed. Although one downside is the overground on a Sunday, which is a nightmare for work!"
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