Hardback: 477 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Knopf 2013
Source: Tywyn Public Library.
Favourite Quote: “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.”
Review Quote:‘A brilliant exploration of being African in America … an urgent and important book, further evidence that its author is a real talent’ Sunday Telegraph
Literary Awards: International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2015), Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction (2013), National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction (2013), Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee (2014), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2014)
My Opinion: I loved this even more than her two previous novels which I read when they were first published before I was writing reviews. I did not want this to end, it is a wonderful descriptive read about life for a black African when they move to America. What a different life it was for the female protagonist who did not even realise she was 'black' until she lived in America and learnt about racism. Love for her country as well as the man she left behind is a central theme and it is obvious that Adichie is passionate about her subject. Highly recommended to everyone.
Precis from Author's Website.
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.
Précis: Courtesy of Goodreads:
From the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, a dazzling new novel: a story of love and race centered around a young man and woman from Nigeria who face difficult choices and challenges in the countries they come to call home.
As teenagers in a Lagos secondary school, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are leaving the country if they can. Ifemelu—beautiful, self-assured—departs for America to study. She suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships and friendships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze—the quiet, thoughtful son of a professor—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.
Years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a writer of an eye-opening blog about race in America. But when Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, and she and Obinze reignite their shared passion—for their homeland and for each other—they will face the toughest decisions of their lives.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today’s globalized world: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s most powerful and astonishing novel yet.
YouTube : An Interview with the Author:
Author Profile:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria on the 15th of September 1977, 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 University in Philadelphia for two years, then went on to pursue a degree in communication and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University. Chimamanda graduated summa cum laude from Eastern in 2001, and then completed a master's degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. Her further studies were as a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005-2006 academic year, and she earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University in 2008.
It was during her senior year at Eastern that she started working on her first novel, 'Purple Hibiscus' which was published in 2003 and long listed for the Booker Prize. Her second novel 'Half of a Yellow Sun' won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her work has been selected by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and the BBC Short Story Awards and has also appeared in various literary publications, including Zoetrope and The Iowa Review. She won a MacArthur 'genius' grant in 2009, and in 2010 appeared on the New Yorker's list of the best 20 writers under 40.
The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following websites, where you can also find more information about the author and her writing.
Goodreads - Author Profile Amazon Author Page Author Official Website
I enjoyed your review and blog post. I also have read all her novels and I especially LOVED this one. Have you read "We Should All Be Feminists" also by her?
ReplyDeleteThanks Patricia, no I have not read it, but might do sometime.
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