IBG Tuesday Meetup - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Thank you to everyone who came to discuss Hocus Pocus, a oddly suitable choice for US election night! While rather bleak in outlook, it served to remind us that pessimism and disgust with the world are hardly new... There was plenty of wisdom and dark humour to enjoy in the book, but the digressive nature of the narrative was a bit of a stumbling block for some.

Some interesting suggestions for our next book, with Renaud's choice of Americanah getting the thumbs up with 6 votes. This saw off the following competition:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, suggested by Annamarie (0 votes)

The Man in the High Castle, Sam (2 votes)

All Quiet on the Western Front, Sheila (1 vote)

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet, William (2 votes)

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From the award-winning author of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun,’ a powerful story of love, race and identity.

As teenagers in Lagos, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are fleeing the country if they can. The self-assured Ifemelu departs for America. There she suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze 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.

Thirteen years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a blogger. But after so long apart and so many changes, will they find the courage to meet again, face to face?

Fearless, gripping, spanning three continents and numerous lives, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning ‘Americanah’ is a richly told story of love and expectation set in today’s globalized world.

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NB – if you do RSVP yes, please ensure that you update your RSVP as soon as possible if your availability subsequently changes. We’ve had a significant number of no-shows which does not help our planning and may cause other readers to miss out. While last minute changes of plan are sometimes unavoidable, please be sure you have a reasonable expectation of being able to read the book and attend the discussion before accepting…