Tag: Books

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This magnificent books starts of in America where a young Nigerian Woman, Ifemelu decides to go back to Nigeria after living ten years in America. She describes her stay there “ it’s wonderful but it’s not heaven”.

 Ifemelu in her stay in America, realizes that there are indeed racial issues and they do affect her because of the color of her skin color. It was hard for her to get a job though she had graduated from university. For instance, a restaurant tells her that they’ve decided to hire “‘a more qualified person’” for their hostess position or a babysitting job is given to someone else without any explanation.

Racism is not something she never had to deal with back in Nigeria. As she explains to someone at a dinner party,“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 author addresses on issues concerning race in America with the character of Ifemelu and her blog addressing the “onyinbos”(white people) on how to treat black people.  For instance “ Dear American Non-Black, if an American Black person is telling you about an experience about being black, please do not eagerly bring up examples from your own life. Don’t say “It’s just like when I …”

 

Ifemelu grew up in Lagos, Nigeria where she met her highschool sweetheart Obinze. The two went to university together, however due to the political issues in that era, there were strikes and the university shut down. Ifemelu got an opportunity to apply for a scholarship in a university in Philadelphia, America and she manages to get the scholarship and visa while Obinze remained in Nigeria. This is the other side of Americanah where the author tells the story of the persevering love between the two characters across three continents

 In America, Ifemelu is introduced to the American culture and its racial politics. Since Ifemelu couldn’t find a job,She later accepts a job helping a tennis coach “relax.” He touches her sexually and gives her $100. Ifemelu goes home and feels guilty and depressed. She breaks off contact with Obinze. This is were the lovers relationship starts to drift away.

 Obinze is hurt by Ifemelu’s sudden silence. He graduates and moves to England. He stays with friends but can’t find a good job. Obinze borrows money from Emenike, an old friend who has gotten rich in England, and pays for a green-card marriage with a girl named Cleotilde. On the day of his wedding, though, Obinze is arrested and sent back to Nigeria.

 Meanwhile, Ifemelu in America, starts dating a rich, handsome white man. He  takes Ifemelu on many trips and helps her get a good job and a green card. However Ifemelu, feeling the pressure of her interracial relationship, cheats on Curt and he breaks up with her. She gets depressed again. Ifemelu starts her race blog and it gets very popular.

 For more gripping suspense, I suggest you get yourself the book and read. As a reader, I loved the book very much. I loved how Ifemelu and Obinze’s story begun and ended. To the moment where Ifemelu is back in Nigeria in the car with Obinze listening to “Yori yori” by bracket, the reader cannot help but fall in love and see the true meaning of “what’s meant for you will come back to you”

By Vanessa Mwingira

Book Review:The Secret Lives Of Baba Segi’s Wives By Lola Shoneyin

This month, we look at the superb book written by Lola Shoneyin- The secret lives of baba Segi’s wives. The readers are immediately introduced to the character of baba Segi as a man in a polygamous relationship. He has married three wives with seven children.

In the opening, the readers also learn that he took a fourth wife whom he has labelled as the “graduate wife”. He appears to be very boastful when he describes the fourth wife to his friend “teacher”. This shows that the other wives are uneducated.

The book showcases a marital power play where Iya Segi -the first wife- controls the household although baba Segi is the head of the house. Throughout the book, it can be seen how the rest of the two wives are afraid of butting heads with Iya Segi with the fear that she will ruin them.

A lot of secrets unravel in every chapter of the book which leaves the readers gasping for the next series of events. Each wife has a secret that baba Segi does not know about. However the truth always comes to light somehow. In this case, the fourth wife spinned the wheels in motion.

 Bolanle- the fourth wife- is described by the other wives as the evil one who came into the household as a hurricane to throw everything upside down and ruin the norm of the household. They wanted her out of the house by any means. There actions caused their downfall.  With the knowledge that the fourth wife cannot get pregnant, a visit to the hospital to sort out the problem is what started the end of their circus

Truly this book is quite remarkable, the language used by Shoneyin is quite relatable to the people living in West African, you can say that its indeed African. The author also touches on matters that face the society which include the problems of being uneducated. Some of the things done by the characters could be easily avoided if they were educated.

Grab yourself the book and have fun reading. Chances are you would not put the book down until you finish it.

By Vanessa Mwingira