Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

One of The New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of the Year

From the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, a dazzling new novel: a story of love and race centered around a young man and woman from Nigeria who face difficult choices and challenges in the countries they come to call home.

As teenagers in a Lagos secondary school, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are leaving the country if they can. Ifemelu—beautiful, self-assured—departs for America to study. She suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships and friendships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze—the quiet, thoughtful son of a professor—had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. 

Years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a writer of an eye-opening blog about race in America. But when Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, and she and Obinze reignite their shared passion—for their homeland and for each other—they will face the toughest decisions of their lives. 
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today’s globalized world: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s most powerful and astonishing novel yet.

The Wine Exchange Bistro & Wine Bar in Hyde Park Village has been dishing out great food and exceptional wines since 1990. With a reverential nod to the street side cafés of Europe, the Wine Exchange offers a welcoming and relaxing respite from the everyday toil. Taste wines from all over the globe in our crystal stemware, while sitting on the patio, or take in the surrounding scenery sipping martinis at our fully stocked bar. With over forty different wines by the glass and a bartending crew that really knows how to shake it, you are sure to find an old favorite or discover something new.

PS: Be sure to read the new membership rules of Progressive Young Readers. Annual dues are due this month.