I am reading 'Americanah' by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie

I went to the library of the school where I do some work in London looking for something to inspire me for my next art project. Immediately, the librarian, Sarah who is my friend saw me and called me
over. She told me that she was in the process of ordering books by black writers for the children to read and she wanted me to suggest to her books by black authors. There was an increasing population of black children in the school and the library had mostly books by white authors.

She told me that what happens in this scenario is that the black kids find nothing they can relate to in the library and begin to mess about, talking and running around. So, Sarah thought that if she placed an order for books that they could identify with then the kids would come into the library, settle down, and read for once.

Excitedly, she showed me a few books that had just come in and she shove Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'Americanah' into my hand. "This is extra-ordinary!" she said. "Read it over Christmas." I looked at the plain brown cover of the book and the size of it thinking, "I would not be able to read this over Christmas, I would not have the time or the space." Plus, although, I had read about Adichie and seen her on TV talking about her book, 'Purple Hibiscus', I didn't know anything about her. Anyway, I took it thinking that I will glance through and return it when the school resumed in January.

But as I write, the story as you can see is different. With the book sitting on my desk at home for most of last week, I decided to read the first paragraph last night and I found myself reading the whole of the first page, then I went on to the the next few pages and I can say, I am impressed.

I have not read the blob of the book but the story so far is of a Nigerian girl - a blogger who has travelled to America and is experiencing a new culture.
From the few pages I have read, I think Adichie is an extremely good writer who uses the English language with panache. At one point, I had to wonder where she was educated. Nigeria? United States? UK? Anyway, I will find out a few interesting things about her, read some more and give you more news later.

Have a peaceful and pleasant 2014!