Americanah

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 theMore 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. Less

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Rowena rated it it was amazing

over 3 years ago

One of the best books I've read in 2013. "Americanah" is a book of great impact and importance. This is the one book by an African writer that has spoken to me more than any other.

This is a book about Africa and the African diasporic experience in the USA and England, a b. Read full review

Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship rated it did not like it

over 3 years ago

UPDATE: Now with irritating author interview! See end of review.

Those of you who know me know I don’t really have favorite authors: I have favorite books, occasionally favorite series. So you won’t be surprised that after I thought Half of a Yellow Sun was amazing and Pur. Read full review

Somi rated it really liked it

over 1 year ago

In Nigeria, we are brought up on foreign movies, sitcoms and TV shows, foreign books and foreign news. We know how English should be spoken, and many of us who bother to read a lot are very familiar with the colloquialisms of the west.

This is perhaps why we do not recogni. Read full review

Brina rated it it was amazing

A few weeks ago I read The Thing Around Your Neck, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's short story collection, and was immediately struck with her attention to detail in stories as short as six pages long. Desiring more of her captivating prose, I chose Americanah, her intricate d. Read full review

Roxane rated it really liked it

over 3 years ago

There's a lot going on here. This book is a beautiful mess. Adichie takes on race, immigration and emigration, the politics of natural hair, interracial relationships, what it means to leave home, and what it means to return, all wrapped up in a love story. The book is, a. Read full review

Kaykay Obi rated it it was amazing

over 3 years ago

Americanah is a love story, not the kind of love stories I grew up reading, those with really beautiful women and handsome tall guys. In fact, the lovers in this one aren’t too attractive, but their love is. Their love is beautiful, but then it is tried, beaten, stretched. Read full review

karen rated it really liked it

this is basically what was going through my head for most of the book: “AAAAAAAAHHHHH. ”

and then, more quietly in the background, under the shrieking:

“why haven’t i read this before now?”

because i was an early-adopter of adichie - i read Purple Hibiscus back when it wa. Read full review

Julie Christine rated it it was amazing

almost 3 years ago

"What is it with you Americans and race?" my friend Fatima asked me one day over lunch. We were in her country, France, both students at a university tucked in a shadow of an Alpine peak. "Everyone always wanted to know where I was from. I'd tell them France and they'd sa. Read full review

Maxwell rated it it was amazing

Everyone should read this book.

Adichie has really hit her stride in this one. After having read and adored her previous works, I knew I would love this one, and it didn't disappoint. It is by far her best work, and you can see the progression of her writing skill in Ameri. Read full review

Dincy rated it it was amazing

over 3 years ago

I'm only about halfway through this book but I am enthralled. I was afraid that I was over-eager and could only be disappointed, that I had set the bar too high, that I should remember that Adichie is only human, after all. But my fears were misplaced. ''Chimmy'' is back. Read full review

Other Books by this Author

Hardcover. 477 pages

Published May 14th 2013 by Knopf

ISBN 0307271080 (ISBN13: 9780307271082 ) Edition Language English Original Title Americanah Literary Awards The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Women's Prize for Fiction, Andrew Carnegie Medal More… The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, Women's Prize for Fiction, Andrew Carnegie Medal, Goodreads Choice Award, Go On Girl! Book Club Award Less

About this Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author. Her best known novels are Purple Hibiscus (2003). Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013).

She was born in Enugu, Nigeria, the fifth of six children to Igbo parents. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. At nineteen, Chimamanda left for the U.S. to study communication at Drexel.

The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love. But the minute you step outside, race matters. But we don’t talk about it. We don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we’re worried they will say we’re overreacting, or we’re being too sensitive. And we don’t want them to say, Look how far we’ve come, just forty years ago it would have been illegal for us to even be a couple blah blah blah, because you know what we’re thinking when they say that? We’re thinking why the fuck should it ever have been illegal anyway? But we don’t say any of this stuff. We let it pile up inside our heads and when we come to nice liberal dinners like this, we say that race doesn’t matter because that’s what we’re supposed to say, to keep our nice liberal friends comfortable. It’s true. I speak from experience.

Racism should never have happened and so you don't get a cookie for reducing it.

If you don't understand, ask questions. If you're uncomfortable about asking questions, say you are uncomfortable about asking questions and then ask anyway. It's easy to tell when a question is coming from a good place. Then listen some more. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Here's to possibilities of friendship and connection and understanding.