Americanah

The story begins with Ifemelu preparing to return to Nigeria after spending many years in America. Her return makes her reflect on the journey that took her away from home and changed her understanding of herself.

As a young woman in Nigeria, Ifemelu falls in love with Obinze. When circumstances separate them, they take different paths. Ifemelu goes to America, while Obinze eventually tries to establish himself in Britain.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer born in 1977. She is known internationally for her novels, essays and talks dealing with identity, gender, race, Nigeria, migration and cultural differences.

Her major works include:

• Purple Hibiscus

• Half of a Yellow Sun

• Americanah

• The Thing Around Your Neck

• We Should All Be Feminists

Half of a Yellow Sun won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction, while Adichie received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2009.

The novel centres on Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who leaves Nigeria to study in the United States, and Obinze, her first love.

In Nigeria, they form a strong relationship, but their circumstances eventually separate them. Ifemelu goes to America and begins a new life there.

Her American experience becomes a major part of the novel. She encounters racism and begins to understand how being Black and African is perceived differently in America. She eventually starts a successful blog discussing race and society.