It was a joyous realization upon completing this book, that we still have steady hands to carry us in a post Achebe-Soyinka-Ngugi world. African literature lives to fight another day.
This is a book written by contemporary African literature heavyweight ‘Chimamanda Ngozi’ following a string of successes in her previous efforts. Americanah is a ceaseless delight chronicling Nigerian émigrés reaching for the promise of charmed Western living and the contradictions they encounter ensured by the harsh reality of life in the diaspora.
A real story about real people, relatable on multiple levels, Americanah douses you in the emotional roller coaster of Hope, the folly of it, of love, and it’s stubborn refusal to conquer ‘all’. A gifted storyteller, Chimamanda uses prose in ways that seep through one’s very being. She tackles important issues of racial identity, perspectives on race and immigration while carefully sieving fact from fiction.
It is weaved with the appreciable exactness of one who has lived it, immersed oneself in it and strove to broadcast the experience through the endowment of literature. The story undulates effortlessly through her believable characters, in different locations and through the sands of time.
(Note: The reviewer is convinced this is what a perfect novel looks like and will not use any scoring metric for aforementioned reason)
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Draman Victor - A happy member of the Dangala Bookclub at our last meeting
