In Intimations, Smith compares writing novels to baking banana bread (it’s just something to do). Zadie Smith famously wrote this slim tome of excellent essays during the early days of Covid, reflecting on life in this strange time of ours: the miseries of lockdown and ruminations on writing, George Floyd, privilege, suffering, contempt. This is a whole different kind of spring story-a pandemic spring. A story of friendship, loneliness, injustice, aging, and empathy. To set the scene: it’s cherry blossom season in Tokyo, a disgruntled, depressed employee runs a dorayaki shop on the blossomiest street of them all, and an elderly lady appears out of nowhere and infiltrates his life with her magical bean paste. A treat that you will most definitely be craving when reading this book, so fair warning to seek out some sweet bites to snack on. Here are some reads to welcome the new season: Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawaĭorayaki is a delicious Japanese pancake filled with sweet bean paste. Perhaps you’re a cynic, perhaps a seasoned spring fiend, or ambivalent about this season that can feel in-between. A grand old flowering tree after a cold, dark winter is surely enough to warm even a cynic’s heart, no? I buy bouquets of daffodils, fawn over sidewalk tulips, and embrace with open arms the big fat cliché that this season is. It feels like magic every time, every year: the shoots and sprouts, buds, blooms, and blossoms, that literal spring in your step as winter fades.
The magnolias are blooming where I live in Spain-big bursts of pink blossoms garlanding the streets, sprays of pastel petals on gray pavements, a twist of color among concrete. Sign up for our newsletter to get submission announcements and stay on top of our best work.
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