Americanah by Chimamanda N. Adichie

Genre: fiction, 490 pages

 

 The book follows the life of Ifemelu, who is an only child to somewhat lower class but educated parents. Her father works in the ministry and constantly sounds off his knowledge with big words in his analysis of the declining state of the country's politics. He is a proud man whose firm belief against corruption results in him getting sacked from his job for refusing to call his new boss "Mummy".
His wife is a religious woman who wants the best for her family however her good intentions sometimes lead her in questionable directions as is seen when she comes home one day when Ifemelu is still a young girl, sober and trance-like, proceeds to chop off her long and beautiful hair and declares she has found God and they are now members of a church where they do not chemically process their hair or wear jewelry.

Surviving America and Racism
Ifemelu gets into university and during one of the many union strikes, she applies to universities in America and is thrilled when she gets offers and a partial scholarship. Getting a visa was easy and off she goes to live with her aunt, Uju, who had relocated years ago after her married military lover dies in a plane crash. On getting to Brooklyn, she is disillusioned. by what she sees; overwhelming heat, dirty streets and the fact that everything wasn't shiny, bright and glossy as she had seen in Bill Cosby's show.

Amidst finding a way to survive with no job and little or no money, she has to cope with the strains of university life and racism which she had never had to deal with in Nigeria. Obinze gradually gets pushed to the back of her mind as she struggles to keep afloat in a foreign land.
Enter Curt, a white boy from a wealthy home who introduces her to a bourgeois lifestyle. But in the first class trips abroad, expensive clothes, overall contentment of a new comfortable life, there remains a yearn for the love she's left behind in Nigeria.

A Love Story
Ultimately a love story of two people who fall in love and are separated. 13years later, Obinze who is now a wealthy man and has since moved to Lagos, is married to beautiful Kosi and has a child. Ifemelu, finds she is dissatisfied with her life and despite her success has decided to return home.
Will they reunite and have a life together as they always planned or has the turns of life wedged them apart forever?

 
Although the book deals with a few of Nigeria's heavy issues like an unstable educational system and corruption, its prose, writing style and tone are cleverly done lightly as to not overwhelm the plot.

Americanah is Adichie's third novel and with it she reminds us she is a truly gifted writer.