Adichie is coming out with a new novel next March, and I’m excited to read it (and attend a reading). Before we do that, let’s revisit one of my original five star reviews, a book that I frequently cite as one of my favorites, and definitely home of one of my favorite quotes which I recite quite often:
With him, she was at ease; her skin felt as though it was her right size.
But then I recommended it to someone recently, and while they were reading it I had a moment of shock akin to what I felt recently re: Spinning Silver, i.e. is this book still as good as I think it is? And unlike my beloved Miryem, I have to say…hmm, maybe not.
Let’s start with what works: the prose. What brilliant, beautiful writing, that seemingly annoys some people for its lack of momentum or action. Such is life, my friends, and if you read half of what’s peddled as adult literature you’ll find precious little, what’s that oh right “plot.” I’m not defending Adichie (well, I am a little) but I am noting that her work has something else going for it–a smooth silkiness, a tripping from topic to topic that’s truly mesmerizing.
It perhaps also suffers due to its age–one of the earlier breakthroughs of the genre (in this case, the book written by a out and proud non-American non-white author that centers race without apology) makes it seem a little cliche now, the infamous Casablanca problem. But all of Ifemelu’s discoveries ring just as true today as they do then, and if they sting well…perhaps checking of biases is required?
But what doesn’t hang together as well is the latter half of the book, and in particular the parts where Ifemelu is back in Nigeria. Is it because Adichie herself wants a certain ending for these characters that she loves so much? In a sense it feels like she’s written herself into a plot corner and gives up in trying to find a solution that sits as well with readers (she was in her early 30s when she wrote this, an age I am now) as it does with a proud mother-author. It’s just hard to accept SPOILER SPOILER
t.
But…that quote man, I’ll rec this book forever for it.