Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is one of my favorite contemporary fiction novels. In fact, I love anything written by Adichie. If you’re an Americanah fan like me, you’ll love these other great reads!
In Americanah, Adichie explores issues of race and gender while tackling the emotional experience of immigrating to a new country. However, at the root of the novel is a love story spanning years and continents. Like Americanah, these picks grapple with characters who are searching for connection in a world from which they feel separate.
Zinzi Clemmon’s What We Lose explores race and identity in America through the lens of a second-generation American who is grappling with the loss of her South African mother.
In Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid, a young couple flees the violence in their own country only to find that they are not welcome in their new home. Like Americanah, the couple’s relationship is at the heart of the novel but is complicated by the external forces of race and ethnicity.
Uzodinma Iweala, in Speak No Evil, and Adichie both present complex young protagonists who must navigate an America that is at odds with the traditions of Nigerian culture. For different reasons, both characters are outsiders in their respective worlds.
Elif Shafak’s Three Daughters of Eve is narrated by a strong female character. Similar to Ifemelu, Shafak’s Peri navigates the conflicts between feminism and cultural traditions.
Find all these adult fiction staff picks in the catalog!
-Contributed by Cailín C., Adult Services Librarian