In Dependence
IN DEPENDENCE The title of Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s novel, In Dependence, captures the thematic subtleties presented in its pages. Is twentieth-century Nigeria seeking independence, or just struggling endlessly with one form of dependency or another? Are Manyika’s characters independent human beings, or are they inherently dependent upon their nationalities, their parents, their offspring, their loves? […]
Speak No Evil
SPEAK NO EVIL Uzodinma Iweala’s Speak No Evil left me not only speechless but breathless, too. It’s not often I encounter such a novel. Speak No Evil features two privileged teenagers. Seniors at a private high school in Washington, D.C., boasting good grades and running as individual stars on the boys’ and girls’ track teams, […]
Behold the Dreamers
Behold the Cameroonian Dreamers Not long ago, I reviewed Americanah, a novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about Nigerian immigrants and their American experiences. Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers offers a stunning Cameroonian point/counterpoint to Adichie’s perceptions. I realize that Nigerians and Cameroonians come from quite different backgrounds and cultures, and therefore their experiences are bound […]
Americanah – A novel approach to the Black experience in America
Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, Americanah, perceives American racism through an entirely new lens, one I had never looked through before. My generic notions of racism have always been filtered through my own whiteness, and through the eyes and experiences of American Blacks. From history and literature, I learned about the Civil War. I came […]