We open with Nigerian Ifemelu at Princeton as her fellowship is ending. We follow her to Trenton where she must go to get her hair braided because Princeton doesn’t have the facilities to deal with black peoples’ hair. During the six-hour process, we’re introduced not only to the other Africans in the salon but through … Continue reading AMERICANAH
For a read you won’t forget In Dependence by Sarah Ladipo Manyika Nigerian-born writers have compiled an impressive roster of distinguished works over the last decades. Perhaps the first in my recollection is the classic Things Fall Apart by … Continue reading A BEAUTIFUL CROSSOVER ROMANCE
I’ve been on an African kick lately, as has the publishing industry, apparently. From Americanah to Half of a Yellow Sun to We Need New Names To TWhen The Crocodile Eats The Sun, it’s a surprising accumulation of literary excellence. And the variety of voice and subjects is impressive. Harrowing lives under Robert Mugabe. The … Continue reading BOY, SNOW, BIRD PLUS FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Chimamanda Ngoze Adiche sets her Half of a Yellow Sun in the midst of a war of secession as Biafra and her Igbo people try to separate themselves from Nigerian persecution and tyranny. The title image refers to the figure on the flag of a nation that never quite realized its sovereignty. My ignorance of Africa, … Continue reading RISING AND SETTING OF A YELLOW SUN
We Need New Names is my third recent foray into works by African ex-pats. There was Ngoze Adiche’s Americanah. Before that, Peter Godwin’s memoir, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun. and now NoViolet Bulawayo brings us this lively, often painful, account of a Zimbabwean girl’s journey from her homeland to the U.S. At first, you think you’re … Continue reading NEW NAMES FOR NEW LIVES
