IN A NUTSHELL
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013)- In 40 words or less: A story that gives life to the personal struggles two young people in contemporary Nigeria, America and Britain. Through their eyes issues of immigration, racism and multiculturalism are brought forward. Long but well worth the effort!
- Genre: Literary Fiction
- Locale: Nigeria, United States, Great Britain
- Time: Contemporary
- Read this for a meaty story of generations adapting to change and confronting change delayed.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is deservedly a darling of current literary circles. Each of her novels has won numerous awards and her recent book length essay, We Should All be Feminists, which started as a TEDx talk, is considered a seminal work (pun intended) on the topic. Her novel Half of a Yellow Sun, brings to life the devastating Biafran conflict that tore apart Nigeria in the late 1960s.
In Americanah, Adichie introduces Ifemelu and Obinze, bright, loving young Nigerians who must leave their homeland to seek opportunity abroad. While college students, Nigeria is ruled by the military and universities are often closed due to strikes and other disruptions and prospects for success afterwards are few. America post-9/11 is particularly unfriendly to young men from Africa so, despite his love for all things American, Obinze ends up in England. Ifemelu secures a partial graduate school scholarship and joins family in Brooklyn. Soon on her own in Philadelphia, she struggles – making ends meet, understanding American-English and norms, and confronting racism for the first time. Her connection to Obinze is her beacon. At her lowest moment, she cuts off communication, though never relinquishing the connection.
Ifemelu had a keen eye for cultural and political nuances of being an African woman versus an African-American woman in America. Arriving in the US a couple of years before the election of President Obama, her experience is imbued with the changes his candidacy and election brings. Throughout her time in several cities on the east coast, her warmth and wit bring her friends and rich relationships. Initially as a lark, she turns a blog into a forum for discussions on race, politics and people. Eventually leaving school behind, Ifemelu becomes a full-time blogger. After several years she makes the choice to return home.
Obinze’s acclimation to England is more difficult. Without family as a touchpoint and school as a focus, he scrambles to find work without a visa and gets drawn into the British equivalent of the green card marriage scam. Throughout he remains in love with Ifemelu and can’t understand the silence. Forced to return to Nigeria, there he achieves all the outward symbols of a very successful life.
There is a very contemporary feel to this novel. The characters are working to launch their lives in very uncertain times. Without the internet, they’d be unable to maintain and fracture connections. Politics has a role but is not all-pervasive. Religion is only mentioned in passing. This measured attention allows day-to-day life to shine through.
This is a long book, at 588 pages almost twice the length the book groups I work with typically choose. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie not only tells a story but informs the reader as well. Her characters are smart and expressive. Her descriptions of places and situations are vivid, almost as if a movie camera is panning the scene. The novel deals with immigration, multiculturalism, racism and the haves and have-nots. The view of daily life in Nigeria before and after her time in the US is so detailed that you can feel the heat and smell the food. And throughout there is the universal draw of family, both by birth and by choice. Consider the time required to absorb this novel an investment well made.
by 