AmericanahWINNER 2013 – National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction FINALIST 2014 – Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction LONGLISTED 2015 – International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award A searing new novel, at once sweeping and intimate, by the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun: a story of love and race centered around a man and woman from Nigeria who seemed destined to be together--until the choices they are forced to make tear them apart. Ifemelu--beautiful, self-assured--left Nigeria 15 years ago, and now studies in Princeton as a Graduate Fellow. She seems to have fulfilled every immigrant's dream: Ivy League education; success as a writer of a wildly popular political blog; money for the things she needs. But what came before is more like a nightmare: wrenching departure from family; humiliating jobs under a false name. She feels for the first time the weight of something she didn't think about back home: race. Obinze--handsome and kind-hearted--was Ifemelu's teenage love; he'd hoped to join her in America, but post 9/11 America wouldn't let him in. Obinze's journey leads him to back alleys of illegal employment in London; to a fake marriage for the sake of a work card, and finally, to a set of handcuffs as he is exposed and deported. Years later, when they reunite in Nigeria, neither is the same person who left home. Obinze is the kind of successful "Big Man" he'd scorned in his youth, and Ifemelu has become an "Americanah"--a different version of her former self, one with a new accent and attitude. As they revisit their shared passion--for their homeland and for each other--they must face the largest challenges of their lives. Spanning three continents, entering the lives of a richly drawn cast of characters across numerous divides, Americanah is a riveting story of love and expectation set in today's globalized world. |
Contents
Chapter | |
Chapter 2 | |
Part 2 | |
Chapter 5 | |
Chapter 6 | |
Chapter 7 | |
Chapter 8 | |
Chapter 9 | |
Chapter 36 | |
Chapter 37 | |
Chapter 38 | |
Chapter 39 | |
Chapter 40 | |
Chapter 41 | |
Part 5 | |
Chapter 42 | |
Chapter 20 | |
Chapter 21 | |
Chapter 22 | |
Part 3 | |
Chapter 23 | |
Chapter 24 | |
Chapter 25 | |
Chapter 26 | |
Chapter 27 | |
Chapter 28 | |
Chapter 29 | |
Chapter 30 | |
Part 4 | |
Chapter 31 | |
Chapter 32 | |
Chapter 33 | |
Chapter 34 | |
Chapter 35 | |
Part 6 | |
Chapter 43 | |
Part 7 | |
Chapter 44 | |
Chapter 45 | |
Chapter 46 | |
Chapter 47 | |
Chapter 48 | |
Chapter 49 | |
Chapter 50 | |
Chapter 51 | |
Chapter 52 | |
Chapter 53 | |
Chapter 54 | |
Chapter 55 | |
Acknowledgments A Note About the Author Other Books by This Author | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abuja accent African Aisha Aunty Onenu Aunty Uju Barack Obama Blaine blog braids called can’t child cornrows Curt didn’t Dike door Doris e-mail Emenike eyes face Facebook father feel flat floor friends Georgina Ginika girl hair hand happened Hispanic hugged Ifem Ifemelu asked Ifemelu felt Ifemelu thought Igbo Ikoyi Iloba imagined Jazzhole jollof rice Kayode Kimberly kind kitchen knew Kosi Lagos laughed Laura living room looked Magic Negro Mariama married Michelle Obama never Nigel Nigerian Nollywood Nsukka Obama Obinze Obinze’s mother Ojiugo Okay person race Ranyinudo remember Shan skin smiled sorry spoke stared stopped story sure talk tell There’s things told Ifemelu tone took turned Uju’s visa voice waiting walked watched wearing week What’s woman women wondered words worried you’re Zemaye