LoveReading Says
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction 2014.
Shortlisted for the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.
On the surface this is a love story, a coming-of-age novel and a tale of friendship. But Adichie did not allow her work to be just that. Most of the book, related in seven parts, is from the girl Ifemelu’s point of view but we do get significant bits from the boy Obinze’s side too. So across three countries, Nigeria, the USA and the UK, we get a strong portrait of racism, gender stereotyping, corruption and exploitation. Well written with a fascinating insight into part of the new, vibrant Nigeria, we are given a picture which will both fascinate and annoy readers. As students the two flee Nigertia. Ifemelu to a tough time in America until she eventually finds fame as a writer and Obinze to London and the change of British citizenship curtailed by deportation. Back in Nigeria he becomes wealthy. At the end of this fine book the two have their lives to sort out.
March 2014 Book of the Month.
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Sarah Broadhurst
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Americanah Synopsis
'A delicious, important novel' The Times
'Alert, alive and gripping' Independent
'Some novels tell a great story and others make you change the way you look at the world. Americanah does both' Guardian
'A delicious, important novel' THE TIMES
'Alert, alive and gripping' INDEPENDENT
'Some novels tell a great story and others make you change the way you look at the world. Americanah does both' GUARDIAN
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria. In America, Ifemelu suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Meanwhile, Obinze plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, when they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion - for each other and for their homeland - they face the hardest decision of their lives.
Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Americanah is a literary masterpiece, and one of the defining books of the decade.
'A love story for our time'VOGUE
'A brilliant novel: epic in scope, personal in resonance and with lots to say'OBSERVER
'A tour de force. Hugely impressive' MAIL ON SUNDAY
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