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Cover of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah

  • 592 pages · about 10 hours
  • First published 2013
  • 58 editions

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1 About this book

Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love as teenagers at school in Lagos, at a time when Nigeria is under military rule and many people are looking for a way to leave. Ifemelu goes to the United States to study. There she discovers, for the first time, what it means to be seen as Black, and she begins to write about race in America as an African experiences it. Obinze's life takes a different road. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel, published in 2013, follows Ifemelu's life in both countries, with the love story running through it.

  • Nigerians
  • Immigrants
  • African Americans
  • Literary fiction
  • Romance
  • Nigeria
  • Emigration and immigration
  • Refugees

2 What to expect

A novel that follows a young Nigerian woman to the United States and back, with her first love as the thread through it. It is a love story and, as much, a sharp, often funny observation of race, immigration and class, seen by an African who becomes Black only on arriving in America. It is long and leisurely, moving back and forth in time, with strong opinions and a satirical eye.

Good for readers who want: contemporary African fiction, race and immigration, and a love story with social comedy.

3 About Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Born 1977

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer, whose works include fiction, nonfiction, and lectures. She is widely recognised as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature. Born into an Igbo family in Enugu, Nigeria, Adichie was educated at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she studied medicine for a year and half.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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