Ifemelu and Obinze's love story begins in Nigeria in the 1990s. Then they part ways: while Ifemelu is studying at Princeton, Obinze is stranded as an illegal immigrant in London. After years, Ifemelu - now a home-sick "Americanah" - returns as a well-known blogger to the buzzing metropolis of Lagos, where Obinze now lives with his wife and daughter. They meet again and are suddenly faced with a decision that turns their life upside down.

The novel is a mixture of lifestyle, criticism of racism and post-colonial discourse. Chimamanda Adichie spells out the experience of externally prescribed stereotypes with a universal knowledge of human nature - which is just as effective in Nigeria and London as it is in the USA.

“Superb . . . Americanah is that rare thing in contemporary literary fiction: a lush, big-hearted love story that also happens to be a piercingly funny social critique.” says Vogue. Whereas the Washington Post concludes: “Adichie is uniquely positioned to compare racial hierarchies in the United States to social striving in her native Nigeria. She does so in this new work with a ruthless honesty about the ugly and beautiful sides of both nations."