Americanah is a novel written by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The book was published in 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf. Americanah won the 2013 National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award. The book which was Adichie’s third novel has 496 pages and is well written in English Language. A television miniseries, starring and produced by Lupita Nyong’o is set to be adapted on the TV screen.
CHARACTERS
The list of characters in the novel are; Ifemelu (the protagonist), Obinze (Ifemelu’s lover), Obinze’s mother, Ifemelu’s father and mother, Aunty Uju (Ifemelu’s couin), Dike (Aunty Uju’s son), The General (Aunty Uju’s lover and Dike’s father), Curt (Ifemelu’s American boyfriend), Blaine (Ifemelu’s second American boyfriend), Shan (Blaine’s sister), Kosi (Obinze’s wife and the mother of his child) and Buchi ( Obinze and Kosi’s daughter).
SUMMARY
Americanah tells the story of a young Nigerian woman, Ifemelu who migrates to the United States to attend university. Ifemelu as a teenager in a Lagos secondary school met Obinze and the pair were in love. Nigeria at the time is under military dictatorship, and people are seeking to leave the country. Ifemelu departs for the United States to study. Obinze, son of a professor (a widow), had hope to join her in the US but he is denied a visa after 9/11 attack. Ifemelu declined a long distance relationship with Obinze when she left for the states. Through her experiences in relationship and studies, she struggles with the experience of racism in American culture, and the many varieties of racial distinctions.
Upon coming to America, Ifemelu discovered for the first time what it means to be a ‘’Black Person’’. She met Curt who is extremely wealthy and uses his family’s business connections to secure Ifemelu a job interview. This is an effort to impress and persuade her to move to Baltimore so he can see her more often. Their relationship didn’t last though. Meanwhile Obinze goes to London; eventually becoming an undocumented immigrant after his visa expires and was later deported.
Ifemelu met another American man, Blaine, an associate professor at Yale who writes a blog about race and popular culture. His rigidness creates problems in his relationship with her. Ifemelu however gains success in the United States, where she becomes known for her blog about race in America. Obinze returns to Nigeria and becomes a wealthy man as a developer in the newly democratic country. He got married to Kosi and their union is blessed with a daughter, Buchi. When Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, the two (Ifemelu and Obinze) consider the viability of reviving a relationship in light of their diverging experiences during their many years apart.
