Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Book Review

Title: Americanah
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Publisher: Vintage
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, African Literature
Year of Publication: First published in 2013; Vintage edition in 2014
Pages: 608
ISBN: 9780307455925
Audiobook Narrator: Robin Desser and Francesca Choy-Kee

Our Rating of This Book

**Summary of Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie**

Americanah is a book that tells the story a young Nigerian woman named Ifemelu. Ifemelu moves to the United States for college and the novel shares her experiences with race and the challenges she faces by becoming an immigrant in America. Through her popular blog, Ifemelu shares her thoughts on various issues including race and cultural.

The story also follows her childhood sweetheart, named Obinze, who initially struggles with life as an undocumented immigrant in the UK and later returns to Nigeria.

Main Plot & Characters

Ifemelu: She is the main character in the book.
Obinze Maduewesi: He is Ifemelu’s teenage boyfriend from Nigeria. Obinze is very intelligent. Initially he was planning to join Ifemelu in the U.S. but ended up traveling to the UK.
Aunty Uju: She is Ifemelu’s aunt and a doctor who initially lives in Nigeria as the mistress of a powerful general. She later immigrates to the United States.
Dike: He is Aunty Uju’s son. Dike is raised in America.
Professor Maduewesi: She is Obinze’s mother and a university professor.
Ranyinudo: She is Ifemelu’s friend in Nigeria who works in Lagos. She helps Ifemelu adjust when she returns to Nigeria and represents the world of Lagos social climbing.
Curt: He dated Ifemelu at a point. Curt is wealthy and from a different race than Ifemelu. He supports her professional development.
Blaine: He is an academic and activist. He also dates Ifemelu. Their relationship is intellectually compatible but they struggle with other issues especially cultural misunderstandings.
Kimberly: She hires Ifemelu as a babysitter. Kimberly is not mean spirited but she is often unaware of her own racial biases.
Laura: She is Kimberly’s sister. Laura tends to be condescending and makes ignorant comments about race, Africa, and Blackness in America.
Wambui: She is a politically conscious Kenyan friend of Ifemelu’s in America. She is active in pan-African and Black student groups.
Cleotilde: She is a woman who agrees to a sham marriage with Obinze to help him obtain a legal immigration status.
Shan: She is Blaine’s sister.

Writing Style

Adichie tells the story using a lot of humor but is still able to address a lot of serious issues. In terms of the timeline, the story shifts between different perspectives and timelines.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Reading

Memorable Quotes

“Racism should never have happened and so you don’t get a cookie for reducing it.”— Ifemelu’s blog post
“You can’t write an honest novel about race in this country. If you write about how people are really affected by race, it’ll be too obvious. Black writers who do literary fiction in this country, all three of them, not the ten thousand who write those bullshit ghetto books with the bright covers, have two choices: they can do precious or they can do pretentious. When you do neither, nobody knows what to do with you.” — Shan
The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not. We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie.”— Ifemelu
“Dear Non-American Black, when you make the choice to come to America, you become black. Stop saying I’m Jamaican or I’m Ghanaian. America doesn’t care.”— Ifemelu’s blog post, Americanah
“Why did people ask ‘What is it about?’ as if a novel had to be about only one thing.”— Narrator

Impact

Americanah won multiple awards after its release.

**What are your Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie? Do you think the book accurately depicts some of the experiences of immigrants?**

Authors

Nathaniel Adebayo

Nathaniel is a Media Content Specialist at Verayea, where he specializes in curating content and gathering data for the company’s extensive book library. He is also dedicated to writing insightful reviews, offering thoughtful perspectives on a range of media. His work ensures that Verayea’s library is comprehensive, well-organized, and informative, providing valuable resources for its audience.
Ufuoma Akpotaire

Ufuoma Akpotaire is a passionate book, movie and music reviewer with a love for travel and culture. She combines her enthusiasm for storytelling with her experience exploring new places and stories. Through her reviews, she celebrates creativity and inspires readers to appreciate the connections between books, movies, music, travel, and global cultures.