BOOK REVIEWS

 

|AMERICANAH|

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE

In Americanah, Adichie paints a heart-wringing love story that crosses continents. As teenagers living in late 20th-century military-controlled Nigeria, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Later the self-assured Ifemelu departs for America, where she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, while also feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home—Race. Obinze, on the other hand, had hoped to join her, but post-9/11-America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London.   

Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger in America. But after so long apart and so many changes, their courage to continue a relationship that once shaped their teenage world is tested.

Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today’s global world.