Americanah

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I watched this TED talk on “We should all be feminists”  by Ms. Adichie and I was blown away by how she was such a powerful feminist yet came across as rather balanced in her views. It left me craving for more and I decided I would pick up one of her novels and learn more from her.  Americanah seemed like just the right thing. It had won numerous awards including the “National Book Critics Award” and was on several Best-Seller lists all across the country. 

Americanah chronicles the journey of a young Nigerian girl, Ifemelu as she grows up into an adult and eventually immigrates to America. One of the main thrusts of the book is to educate the reader on what it’s like to be an “African” in the US and how different life is for them than their look-alike “African Americans”.  It is a distinction that most of us would not have labored too much on, but Ms. Adichie uses her keen sense of observation to bring out all the little nuances that separate the two. 

Ifemelu and Obinze are young lovers in High School in Lagos, Nigeria.  The country is struggling with its military dictatorship and the only viable option for most young people is to study abroad. Ifemelu heads to the US to study and Obinze finds himself stuck in the U.K.  The book covers a long period in time and takes you through their years growing up in Lagos followed by their life abroad and then back in Nigeria. I found their years growing up in Lagos most fascinating and the parallels with my own life in India were definitely on my mind. 

Ms. Adichie can tell a great story and the book is an epic in it’s own right. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of Ifemelu’s story is based on Ms. Adichie’s own experiences growing up in Nigeria and America. 

Read this and you will have a great appreciation for African immigrants in the US.