PanBookslutInsofar as Smith has taken a standard dramatic scenario familiar to readers of a certain type of literary novel, she makes some efforts to transcend it. Whether or not it is a successful endeavour is rather more questionable … The Accidental ends up more an exercise in cleverness than a story. Equally, the reader’s enjoyment of The Accidental will be inextricably linked to their appetite for such an exercise. If you aren’t swept away by Smith’s undoubted way with words, and you rely on the bones of the story itself, you will be disappointed.
