Americanah

To paraphrase a local librarian, Americanah is about love, race, and hair. It's the most succinct, accurate description of the book I've encountered, though it still leaves out quite a bit. Most description focus on the plot, when this novel has much more to do with the themes it explores than with the characters or what happens to them. The plot is more of a frame for Adichie to hang her ideas on than the point of this book.

The book mostly focuses on Ifemelu, her childhood in Nigeria, young adulthood in America, and eventual return to Nigeria. It also follows her high school boyfriend, Obinze, as he travels to and is ultimately deported from London. Circling them are a wealth of friends and family members, each struggling with life and race in their own ways. The book is peppered with Ifemelu's blog posts, her musings on race in America as seen from an outsider.

Americanah is dense without being inaccessible. There's a lot going on here. A lot of ideas about growing up and falling in and out of love, about chasing your dreams and discovering the hollowness of the American Dream. It's easy to read and goes by quickly, even as the author gives you a lot to chew on. I imagine I'll be returning to passages in this book time and again (I've already seen it quoted and paraphrased all over the internet). I'm also eager to devour the rest of Adichie's work.