Americanah
Book description
Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come.
How easy it was to lie to strangers, to create with strangers the versions of our…
Why read it?
4 authors picked Americanah as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This book is the best love story I’ve read, full stop. There’s nothing like the first time you fall in love, and Ifemelu and Obinze’s relationship reminded me of that feeling—its paralyzing awkwardness and overwhelming joy.
Before I read this book, I’d never thought about what it must be like for immigrants from Africa to encounter (and enter) the long and tortured story of race in America for the first time, and the novel gave me a lot to think about on that score. I also love a novel that takes me somewhere I’ve never been, and the scenes of…
From Nell's list on what it’s really like to be a teenage girl.
Discussing Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with my book club was a revealing experience.
Among our members are Mexicans who have lived in the U.S. and Europe as well as Americans with Cuban, Trinidadian, and European roots currently choosing to live in Mexico. Our immigration stories span the gamut of privilege, and yet we all connected with certain aspects of this book.
With her nuanced portrayal of racism on three continents, the author made us reflect and squirm even as all of us grew ever more enthralled with the story. Adichie is a rare talent.
Great fiction books can teach us how inequality operates in everyday life better than any scientific research.
Americanah is the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze, whose lives diverge when one moves to the US and the other to the UK to converge fifteen years later back in Nigeria.
Through their life stories, we understand what intersectionality really means: class, gender, and race interact to make inequality and discrimination particularly problematic.
Adichie is a fantastic writer who combines humor and kindness to reflect the complexities of contemporary inequality within and across borders.
From D.'s list on inequality as one of our significant challenges.
For better or worse, living in a foreign country often forces a reassessment of the way the world works, both at home and abroad. Race and authenticity are at the center of this novel, wrapped around a love story, exposing the hollowness of certain assumptions while taking a more critical view of Western and African society. Despite this, Adichie’s writing never comes off as sneering or condescending, like the Americanah of the title: self-important Nigerians returning home from overseas.
From Quincy's list on contemporary novels about searching abroad.
Want books like Americanah?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Americanah.
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in Nigeria, immigrants, and refugees?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Nigeria, immigrants, and refugees.