Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion-for each other and for their homeland.” Where I’m At: Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. “Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West.

Loved it just as much as Half of a Yellow Sun. Incredible characters/relationships, engrossing plot, incisive insight into the African immigrant experience. We let it pile up inside our heads and when we come to nice liberal dinners like this, we say that race doesn’t matter because that’s what we’re supposed to say, to keep our nice liberal friends comfortable.” In Brief:Īnother amazing book by Adichie – I was obviously way behind the hype, but it still lived up to everything. And we don’t want them to say, Look how far we’ve come, just forty years ago it would have been illegal for us to even be a couple blah blah blah, because you know what we’re thinking when they say that? We’re thinking why the fuck should it ever have been illegal anyway? But we don’t say any of this stuff. We don’t even tell our white partners the small things that piss us off and the things we wish they understood better, because we’re worried they will say we’re overreacting, or we’re being too sensitive. But the minute you step outside, race matters. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love.

I came from a country where race was not an issue I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. “The only reason you say that race was not an issue is because you wish it was not.

2013 chimamanda ngozi adichie