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Americanah [Hardcover]

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
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Book Description

11 April 2013

From the award-winning author of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun,’ a powerful story of love, race and identity.

As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze 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.

Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?

Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, ‘Americanah’ is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today’s globalized world.


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Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate (11 April 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007306229
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007306220
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

‘An extremely thoughtful, subtly provocative exploration of structural inequality, of different kinds of oppression, of gender roles, of the idea of home. Subtle, but not afraid to pull its punches’ Alex Clark, Guardian

‘Her new novel is a tour de force … The artistry with which Adichie keeps her story moving, while animating the complex anxieties in which the characters live and work, is hugely impressive’ Mail on Sunday

‘A brilliant novel: epic in scope, personal in resonance and with lots to say’ Elizabeth Day, Observer

‘Her observations about race are fresh and incisive … Read Americanah to find out – and enjoy the chance to visit three continents, observe a wide array of subcultures and meet complicated and interesting characters – and to go wherever Adichie chooses to take us’ Sunday Times

‘Adichie writes superb dialogue straight from the mouth of her people … This is a delicious, important novel from a writer with a great deal to say’ The Times

‘A brilliant exploration of being African in America … an urgent and important book, further evidence that its author is a real talent’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Adichie is terrific on human interactions … Adichie’s writing always has an elegant shimmer to is … [Americanah is] wise, entertaining and unendingly perceptive’ Independent on Sunday

‘As she did so masterfully with Half of a Yellow Sun, Adichie paints on a grand canvas, boldly and confidently, equally adept at conveying the complicated political backdrop of Lagos as she is in bringing us into the day-to-day lives of her many new Americans … This is a very funny, very warm and moving intergenerational epic that confirms Adiche’s virtuosity, boundless empathy and searing social acuity.’ Dave Eggers

‘Superb … a large, ambitious book … powerful, heartfelt and evocative. Once again Adichie excels with her depiction of Nigeria …The dialogue sparkles … she is a writer of huge talent who just keeps getting better’ Literary Review

About the Author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria in 1977. Her first novel ‘Purple Hibiscus’ was published in 2003 and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her second novel ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her short story collection, ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’, was published to critical acclaim in 2009. Her work has been selected by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and the BBC Short Story Awards, has 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.


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 42 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Goodbye Achebe Hello Adichie 19 April 2013
By i7
Format:Paperback
Chinua Achebe died this year and the media went on and on about the "father of African literature" in that labelling way with which the media marks events. You may also have noticed that as the great man passed on there was no great debate about who would take over from the man who gave us Things Fall Apart because - in a very short space of time - Nobel Laureates for Literature have included the African observers Lessing, Gordimer, Soyinka, Coetzee and Mahfouz with many more unsung but established African writers waiting in the wings not for awards, but for you to discover them as Africans have for decades.

"Americanah" marks an important milestone for novels about Africa. Nothing that can be said about this rollicking ballsy brilliant read could match the emotional punches Adichie threw in the direction of my African heart. We went from secondary school in Nigeria to the maze of cities and continents where Nigerians reached in their escape from "choicelessness" and back again to Lagos with the kind of brash confidence only an African pen could yield when talking about African lives. And then she takes a surgical scalpel to the issues of race and identity; to the giddiness of the election of America's first black President to life as a black person in foreign lands - in conversations and scenes we all know and have argued about and she airs them at last.

Yes Adichie is younger than the old and the dead and her take on the African diaspora of the 21st century is the most authentic you will encounter, and if your heart beats, you will love these characters and fall in love with a love story like no other. I finished it and found myself clapping over the strength of her words and the reach of her vision.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By BookWorm TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Having loved Adiche's first two novels, I approached this one with some nervousness, afraid it might not live up to the same standard. It is a novel concerned primarily with race - the main character even writes a blog about race in America, posts from which are included within the book. Whilst the topic of the experience of immigrants in Europe and USA is an interesting and relevant one, with plenty of scope for good storytelling, it is also a very familiar one. I feel like I have read countless novels, both good and indifferent, on this topic in the last ten years. I was baffled by a quote on the back cover saying Adiche had brought us into the 'previously unexplored', as that was exactly the opposite to my reaction when I discovered her new novel was on this subject. I rather felt that she had veered away from the unexplored and chosen to tread familiar ground.

That said, it is a well written novel with mostly likeable characters. It is often funny and insightful, and always enjoyable to read. Adiche has a gift for writing characters you can truly like and sympathise with, and this means her stories have additional resonance. I just wish there was a bit more to this story than all the in depth discussions of what it means to be black or not black in America. My favourite sections are those set in Nigeria in the earlier part of the book. You get to know the characters and the insight into their way of life is interesting. After that, it becomes more disjointed. The relatively long time period covered and the geographical scope don't help with this. Characters you come to like disappear from the page without being given a due send off. Some very significant events seem to happen and then be forgotten without any enough explanation.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Life, Love and Hair 13 Jun 2013
By P. G. Harris TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE VOICE
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Americanah is the story of Ifemelu, her early life in Nigeria, her time as an expat working in America, and her return to her home country. It is the story of her family, friends, and lovers. It is an account of the expatriate African experience in America and the UK, and of the expatriate returning to Nigeria. It is the story of Ifem's hair as it changes to match her self perception. Above all it is a love story about Ifemelu and Obinze, "the Zed".

Adichie is the most glorious author, writing in a style which is absolutely bursting with vitality. Right from the very first page her brilliance with language is in evidence as she describes shops as being "delicately over-priced". In those two words she manages to convey everything about the establishments in question. When I read Half a Yellow Sun I was struck by her ability to convey restrained passion, and it is evident again here. There is a conversation between Ifem amd Obinze in the latter part of the book where they are talking about everything except their passionate mutual attraction, but which is nevertheless crackling away beneath the surface.

Through the book Ifemelu's self perception, love life and hairstyle follow aligned, intertwining pathways as she goes from her own country, to arriviste, to aspirational American with straight hair and white boyfriend, to academic with right-on African American partner and afro hair, and back to Nigera, its men and her cornrows.

This is not a primarily plot driven novel. There is a definite central story which holds everything together, but Adichie takes her time in telling it, giving her the space to explore her themes and develop her characters.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Not Adichie's best
I LOVED Half Of A Yellow Sun and Purple Hibiscus so was really looking forward to this latest novel by Adichie, but was disappointed. Read more
Published 7 hours ago by Susana J G
5.0 out of 5 stars Americanah
I couldn't put this book down Chimamanda is a great writer. Having read all her previous books, I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I wasn't disappointed. I wanted it to go on. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Beezelbum
3.0 out of 5 stars A novel, or a long-winded political statement?
It is strange that Alex Clark of The Guardian describes this book as subtle, because having read 67% of it, I finally feel at absolute saturation point with the discussions about... Read more
Published 2 days ago by MustIreallyputaname?
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I loved her previous novels but found this tedious and gave up halfway through. None of the cultural richness and great vistas of her previous works and lots of trivia which didn't... Read more
Published 3 days ago by ScubaCrone
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply live this book
Didn't want the book to end!! Enjoyed it immensely!! Will recommend this as a good read. The writers is really insightful and enjoyed the storyline
Published 9 days ago by Olamide Olabode
5.0 out of 5 stars Americanah
I have read Half of a Yellow Sunand Purple Hibiscus (P.S.) This is so different, and definitely my favourite. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Mdem
5.0 out of 5 stars another superb novel from a great author
Superbly crafted characters and plot which both moves and fascinates! Adichie is rapidly establishing herself as a writer of great literature.
Published 13 days ago by Ross
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
So refreshing to read a book about a subject I know little of, contempory Nigeria from a female perspective.
I've recommended this book to many people.
Published 15 days ago by Lynnie Seib
4.0 out of 5 stars Various Observations
I was a bit put off to notice that most of the reviews of "Americanah" begin by comparing it unfavourably to her previous two books. Read more
Published 15 days ago by floydian dreams
4.0 out of 5 stars Another winner from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Great book lovely writing many interesting themes. Felt a bit bogged down by all the blogs in middle of the book but really enjoyed it
Published 15 days ago by Unknown
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