A lively saga of two London families, from the World War II friendship of unlikely soldiers Archie Jones and Samad Iqbal, through the '90s with their children taking their places in a very different world. Our main protagonist is Archie's biracial daughter Irie, a clear stand-in for the author, and she is the most fully-formed and sympathetic character. It's a wonderfully drawn picture of London cultures in different eras. For me the tone of social satire becomes more and more pronounced as the book goes on; the second half was really more satire and less heartfelt than the the first. Still, it made a wonderful audiobook.