Since Americanah was published in 2013, I have been looking forward to the reading experience. I've heard generally positive reviews and had a feeling I would like it, or at least take something from it. I think one of the reasons I waited so long to read it was because of the whole delayed gratification concept us readers like to torture ourselves with; putting off books we know we are going to enjoy. (Also, it's over 500 pages and you know, that can be intimidating). I read Adichie's non-fiction abridged TED Talk We Should All Be Feminists last year and absolutely loved it. It was one of the first feminist things I had read that was intersectional and since then, I've been eagerly awaiting reading more of her work.
I ended up loving Americanah, and, though not perfect, hit me and pushed me and pulled me in ways I did not expect.
We follow Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman, who emigrates to the United States to attend university and Obinze, a young Nigerian man, who tries to emigrate to London but ends up coming back to Nigeria. They are young lovers who part ways in their early twenties and meet again years later back in Nigeria. Ifemelu's experience in the United States was the majority of the story and the people she meets and the experiences she has really impact her identity as a Nigerian woman, a black woman, and a Non-American Black (NAB). She uses a blog to talk about different issues in the US from an NAB perspective and Adichie interweaves many different types of people into Ifemelu's life to enhance her analytical and curious nature. As Ifemelu looks back on her childhood in Nigeria, and then looks back on her life in the US once she moves back to Nigeria in her 30s, we see this entirely different perspective from someone who has been so many different women depending on where she has lived and the people she has formed relationships with.
Obinze's perspective is very small in comparison throughout the novel, and to be honest, I don't remember as many details of his life except when he is connected to Ifemelu. I think this is the biggest weakness of the book because I never got to connect with him and when we did get the story from his perspective, it felt out of place. I would have liked either a more balanced book between the two or zero chapters from his point of view and anything related to him would have come from Ifemelu's experiences with him.
To get the most of this book, I wouldn't make it a quick read. It's extremely engaging and the writing pulled me in, but taking time to think about what Adichie is saying will showcase the real magic of this novel.
It also reminded me a bit of Zadie Smith and Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue.
Americanah is extremely relevant today and I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks it sounds interesting and/or wants to open their mind up to looking at the world in a different way.
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