Americano

A powerful story of love, race and identity

Ifemelu and Obinze, two young people from Lagos, fall in love. Their homeland, Nigeria, is suffering under a military dictatorship, and everyone who can is trying to escape. The self-assured Ifemelu heads to America, where she experiences defeat and victory, finds and loses other loves, all under the pressure of something she never had to think about at home – race. Obinze, who is not accepted by an America reeling from the September 11th attacks, embarks on a dangerous, illegal life in London.
Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, and Ifemelu is a successful blogger. After so many years and so much change, will they find the courage to meet face-to-face again?

"An exceptional achievement in the burgeoning immigrant literature of the last generation… At the heart of the book is not the effort to become an American or find a middle way, it is the return home. "
- The Washington Post
"Adichie writes excellent dialogue straight from the mouths of her people, with idioms and colloquialisms, using no apologetic italics… She writes boldly and uncompromisingly about Nigerian subjectivity, about lives in their entirety, moving beyond flattering stereotypes of poverty, conflict and corruption… Her scope is incredible—and yet she never loses sight of her characters' deepest psychological movements. "
- The Times
"The entire book is permeated by the love story of the main characters, who are separated for many years so they can experience a few of life's wins and losses, and find themselves and each other. But this is not a Shakespearean love; it is a very realistic story that the reader can easily identify with.
But Americanah is not about love. It's mainly about issues of race, immigration, identity and discrimination. While this cocktail may sound dull and uninspiring, Adichie serves it up in a readable, entertaining and believable way. "
- MF Dnes review 90%