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if you were to take a seat on a bench in the London of white teeth, you

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might notice something peculiar about most of the people walking past. other [people walk past park bench drinking tea]

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than the fact that there guzzling tea like it's the only thing keeping them alive,

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well you might also notice that most of the people are white .which might be good

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for British vendors of sunscreen, but it's not so great for Irie Jones.

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so unlike the vast majority of people Irie meets in London and at her school in

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particular, she isn't white. she comes from a mixed-race background.

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of course there's nothing wrong with that but living as I read us in a white

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dominated society she starts to think that she ought to look like all the [girl frowns at herself in the mirror.]

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other girls ie a white one. well unfortunately for Irene white teeth

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isn't exactly brimming with fairy godmothers ready and willing to grant

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wishes. though Irie makes an ill-advised trip to

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the hairdresser where she gets her hair straightened and dyed in the hopes that

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she'll look more white and Western. instead it's a disaster like a don't go

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out in public for a month level disaster. Iries pursuit of a Western look comes

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from more than just pressure from her environment she has a nasty case of [people smile as Irie frowns]

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unrequited love for Milat and she thinks that a more Western look might be the

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key to his heart. well unfortunately i replanned as a

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whore turns out the human heart is complicated. who knew well Irie interest

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in Milaat is more than just a schoolyard crush. She ends up doing the deed with

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Milaat but when she realizes that he's not really that into her she sleeps with

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Magid his twin brother which for anyone who's curious isn't really the way to a

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man's heart, nor the way to impress your life coach. by the end of the novel it

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turns out that Irie is pregnant with either Millat or Magid's child. [girl holds up pregnancy test]

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however since militant Magee dart wins well they have exact same DNA, so it's

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impossible to know who the father really is. which is convenient if you're not a

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fan of paying child support. Well luckily Irie doesn't care who the father

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is and trying to figure out her identity she spent a bit of time digging into her

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parents past but mostly just ran into a whole lot of confusion and deception. and

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so when faced with her own personal mystery of paternity she just runs it off [box lets out dust]

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happy to live in a space of uncertainty. maybe those hordes of white Brits could

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learn a thing or two from her that is if they can get over their unhealthy

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obsession. [people drink tea]

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