"Americanah is everything you want in contemporary fiction—it is soaring and expansive, fearlessly smart and hilariously subversive. It is a glimpse into the "new" Nigeria and a rich, complicated (and funny!) portrayal of race and immigration in America and the UK. And that's kind of all I want to tell you, because a plot summary on a 3x5 card can't do this novel justice. Should I mention the fantastic set-pieces? Scenes like a braiding session at a hair salon in Trenton, a post-Obama dinner party in Manhattan, a cocktail hour among hip "returnees" in Lagos, and a meeting with marriage arrangers at a London McDonald's? Or maybe I should focus on the characters, like the feminist race blogger and the reluctantly nouveau riche Nigerian businessman. That's only a sliver of what this bountifully packed novel has to offer. So just read it—we'll talk/gush about it later."
Publisher Anchor
Publication Date 2014-03-04
Section Fiction / New Titles - Paperback / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions / Liz S.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780307455925
One of The New York Times's Ten Best Books of the Year and an NBCC Award Finalist
An NPR "Great Reads" Book, a Chicago Tribune Best Book, a Washington Post Notable Book, a Seattle Times Best Book, an Entertainment Weekly Top Fiction Book, a Newsday Top 10 Book, and a Goodreads Best of the Year pick.
A powerful, tender story of race and identity by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun.
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland.
