BY ELLA PERCIVAL

 

AN ABSORBING read that will question your perceptions of the world, Adiche’s third novel takes no prisoners in its reflections on race, womanhood and love.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche is widely regarded one of the most innovative African writers of the current age and is the author of the acclaimed Half of a Yellow Sun which was released as a film this year. Her latest publication takes a direct approach to the prevalent issues of race, femininity and beauty in the modern world.

Americanah focuses on the parallel experiences of Ifemelu and Obinze, a boy and girl who grew up together in Nigeria but were separated when Ifemelu moved to the USA to study. Much of the narrative is told from Ifemelu’s point of view and takes a reflective tone as she looks back on her childhood and young adulthood in Nigeria. Her account of political corruption and economic downturn resonates with readers given the current situation in the country but rather than represent Ifemelu’s departure for the States as an escape, the novel focuses on the reasons for her return, some of which will make the reader squirm. Ifemelu has made a name for herself through a blog on the experience of what she refers to as “the non-American Black” which Adiche uses to interrupt the novel with accounts of the this black female experience of the USA. She calls into question our perception and focus on race to such a degree that at times the plot itself becomes a little obscured. Despite this, the novel successfully calls into question the truth of the “Land of the Free”.

Inequality underpins the parallel narrative of Obinze which Adiche seamlessly incorporates into the plot. Again, Obinze takes a reflective stance, looking back on his Nigerian adolescence and comparing his dreams with the shallow emptiness of his current life as a wealthy property developer in Nigeria. His experience has not been easy. Like Ifemelu, he fled Nigeria but instead of the USA of his dreams, he found himself in Britain, struggling to find work and papers. Obinze finds himself trapped between a country that offers him no future and one that does not him, calling into question our attitudes to immigration.

When the narrative shifts into the present, as Ifemelu moves back to Nigeria, their paths cross again. As old feelings of passion and ambition are thrown up, both characters begin to question their lives. Can they rediscover what they lost?

Above all else, Americanah is a story of race. It is an account of various experiences of racial and sexual discrimination in both Britain and the USA. but despite this, Americanah makes for a very interesting, very eye-opening and very absorbing read.

 

This book was published by Fourth Estate and is available to buy for £8.99. It can also be borrowed from The Hive as well as other Worcestershire libraries. Click here to check availability and check it out