Americanah is the story of Ifemelu and Obinze, two Nigerians who find each other in secondary school and who both leave Nigeria for a time - Ifemelu to America and Obinze to England. Americanah is their experiences, their relationships, their way of looking at the world. It is race and class, cultures that clash in the most unlikely of ways, it is friendship and love and the complications of family.
Obviously, I'm having a hard time articulating the plot of this book. Despite the seventeen hours it took me to listen to it, I always found myself engaged in Adichie's writing. Ifemelu is a very nuanced character - I never could truly anticipate how she would handle a situation, people that might have annoyed me, she had compassion for and other times, a situation that seemed like no big deal would drive her crazy for a specific reason that made sense when she articulated it. I loved how this book handed me a tiny piece of Nigeria - a country about which I have had no previous experience. I loved the accents of the reader (well, except most of her American ones, but all the others were so good) and I appreciated how we got to look at Nigeria over time, how it morphed and changed along with its people. The chronology of the story tended to jump around but I never felt lost for more than a minute.
It wasn't always easy to listen to. There are a few scenes from Ifemelu's life that are so troubling, so harsh for all their raw pain, that it almost made me embarrassed. This book does not shy away from the reality of being an immigrant, especially a black one. Observations about American life and racial discrimination are both blunt and thought-provoking. It made me think more about privilege and, as a white person, some processing was necessary as I really tried to delve into the narrative.
I wish there were more stable relationships here. I never really felt like I could feel relaxed in the story, if that makes sense. Always I knew that something would come along (or a choice would be made) to take away whatever good had arrived. And yet. YET. I really enjoyed it, its literary prose and its demanding me to pay attention to my world.
sensitivity warning: graphic sexual discussions/scenes, language
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